The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed an agreement with Israel

 The Arab countries Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (EU) have signed an agreement to establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel. The agreement was signed at the White House on Tuesday. The three countries had earlier announced the signing of the agreement.

Meanwhile, rockets have been fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza in protest of the deal. The rocket attack was carried out on the eve of the signing of the agreement. However, no casualties were reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately signed bilateral agreements with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al Zayani, AFP reported. US President Donald Trump and the three leaders then signed a joint declaration.

US President Trump has played a key role in establishing diplomatic relations between the two Arab countries and Israel. Some see this as a success for Israel.

The Arab countries have been pursuing a policy of no relations with Israel without the formation of a Palestinian state. But the UAE and Bahrain have suddenly moved away from that policy.

Al-Jazeera reports that the UAE, as the first Gulf Arab country, announced last month that it would normalize relations with Israel. Another Gulf country, Bahrain, has followed suit.

In 1948, three years after the end of World War II, the Jewish state of Israel was born in British-administered Palestine. The Arabs never accepted this state created by the western world. In 1957, 1967 and lastly in 1963, Israel fought wars with the Arab states. Every time the Arabs were defeated. Since then, the Palestinians have been losing ground to the Jews. Although the international community has tried to resolve the conflict by forming two Palestinian-Israeli states, it has not yet succeeded.

The Arab countries laid down three main conditions for establishing relations with Israel. These are the relinquishment of lands occupied by Arab countries during the war, the formation and recognition of a Palestinian state, and the transfer of land occupied by Palestine. Even though none of those conditions have been met, the Arab countries are building relations with the Jewish state. So far, Israel has signed agreements with two other Arab states besides the UAE and Bahrain. The country signed treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.