Abraham Accords

US Secretary of State nominee Tony Blinken testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 19, 2021. (Alex Edelman/Pool via AP)

Biden’s State pick: We’ll consult with Israel, allies before return to Iran deal

Tony Blinken says in confirmation hearing that US commitment to Israel’s security is ‘sacrosanct,’ backs two-state solution but doubts it will happen in near future

Bank Hapoalim CEO Dov Kotler, right, meets with CEO of the National Bank of Bahrain Jean-Christophe Durand in Manama, Bahrain in Nov. 2020 (Courtesy)

Israeli lenders Hapoalim and Leumi sign accords with National Bank of Bahrain

By Shoshanna Solomon

January 20, 2021, 1:49 am

Biden’s State pick: We’ll consult with Israel, allies before return to Iran deal

Tony Blinken says in confirmation hearing that US commitment to Israel’s security is ‘sacrosanct,’ backs two-state solution but doubts it will happen in near future

By Jacob Magid

US President Donald Trump speaks in a farewell video released on his final day in office, Washington, January 19, 2021. (Screenshot/YouTube)

January 20, 2021, 12:59 am

Trump wishes new administration luck, highlights Mideast deals in farewell video

President says ‘pray’ for Biden without mentioning his name on last day in office, talks up normalization agreements, as he prepares to issue pardons in near-empty White House

By AP and TOI staff

US President Donald Trump, right, shaking hands with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, during a bilateral meeting at a hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh, May 21, 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

January 19, 2021, 5:52 pm

On last full day in office, Trump decorates Bahrain king for Israel deal

US president bestows Legion of Merit on King Hamad in recognition of his ‘extraordinary courage and leadership’ in deciding to normalize ties with Jewish state

By AFP

Israeli national security Adviser speaks to a press at the royal palace in Rabat, Morocco, December 22, 2020. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

January 19, 2021, 2:11 am

Morocco 2nd Arab country to promote combating anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism

Rabat inks agreement with US envoy to fight Jew-hatred, following signing of normalization deal with Israel

By Ron Kampeas

Sudanese demonstrators burn Israeli flags during a rally against their country's recent signing of a deal on normalizing relations with the Jewish state, outside the cabinet offices in the capital Khartoum, on January 17, 2021 (ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP)

January 18, 2021, 12:59 pm

Dozens of Sudan protesters burn Israeli flag in rally against normalization

Demonstrators gather outside cabinet offices in capital Khartoum with signs reading ‘Abraham Accords are American blackmail in exchange for submission’

By AFP and TOI staff

January 17, 2021, 12:22 pm

Israeli lenders Hapoalim and Leumi sign accords with National Bank of Bahrain

‘Historic’ memorandums of understanding seen as paving the way for business parties in both nations to tighten economic ties

By Shoshanna Solomon

In this April 24, 2019, photo released by the US Air Force, an F-35A Lightning II fighter jet prepares to taxi and take off from Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. (Staff Sgt. Chris Drzazgowski/US Air Force via AP)

January 16, 2021, 9:24 am

US says Bahrain, UAE are ‘major security partners’ after normalizing Israel ties

White House says agreement with Jerusalem ‘reflects their extraordinary courage, determination and leadership’; notes 2 nations have long taken part in US military exercises

By Jon Gambrell

US President Donald Trump, center, with from left, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, September 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

January 14, 2021, 4:16 am

Amid impeachment, Pompeo says Trump should win Nobel for Israel-Gulf peace

US secretary of state tweets photo from signing of Abraham Accords between Israel and UAE and Bahrain and tags prize committee

By TOI staff

An Israeli passenger from a flydubai flight from Tel Aviv waves her Israeli passport on arrival at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, November 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

January 13, 2021, 6:49 pm

UAE approves visa exemption agreement with Israel, Foreign Ministry says

Israel’s first such deal with an Arab country is now set to enter into force in 30 days’ time

By TOI staff

A coral beach in the Red Sea, Eilat, May 29, 2009. (Anna Kaplan/Flash90)

January 11, 2021, 2:59 pm

UAE pipeline deal will imperil Eilat’s critical coral reefs, scientists warn

As tankers begin taking oil from Red Sea to Mediterranean, hundreds of experts write that a leak could ravage marine life and destroy world’s only reef spared by climate change

By Sue Surkes

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (L) and Sudanese Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari sign the Abraham Accords in Sudan's capital Khartoum, January 6, 2021. (Screen capture: Facebook)

January 6, 2021, 4:55 pm

Sudan signs ‘Abraham Accords’ with US, paving way for Israel normalization

Deal inked during Steve Mnuchin’s trip to Khartoum, the 1st by a top US official since the Trump administration removed Sudan from terror list as part of normalization deal

By Agencies and TOI staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands as he leaves the House chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2015, after addressing a joint meeting of Congress in a speech opposing the imminent Iran nuclear deal . (AP/Andrew Harnik)

December 25, 2020, 11:44 pm

Normalizing with Israel, Arab states look to gain powerful ally in Washington

Israel has lobbied on behalf of countries willing to establish ties, and others hoping for the same kind of muscle on the Hill are likely taking notice

By Jacob Magid

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to his ruling party's lawmakers, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Dec. 23. 2020 (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)

December 25, 2020, 2:29 pm

After years of acrimony, Turkey’s Erdogan says he’d like better ties with Israel

Amid multiple reports of covert overtures between nations, some analysts see Ankara as seeking to start off relations with new, less friendly US administration on the right foot

By TOI staff

US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft (L) meeting in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan. (Haim Zach/GPO)

December 24, 2020, 5:35 pm

Netanyahu says ‘many, many more’ Arab states to normalize ties with Israel soon

Hosting US envoy to UN Kelly Craft, PM says ‘a lot more’ deals to come, ‘perhaps a lot sooner than people expect’

By TOI staff

The national flags of Morocco, Israel and the United States on an El Al plane to Morocco flying a delegation to finalize a normalization deal between Jerusalem and Rabat, at Ben Gurion airport, near Tel Aviv, December 22, 2020. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

December 23, 2020, 5:00 pm

For Israeli delegation in Rabat, a muted ‘welcome back’ marks resumption of ties

Unlike the UAE and Bahrain, Morocco already had relations with Jerusalem once, a fact highlighted by a less effusive reception, despite the historic first flight to Morocco

By Judah Ari Gross