The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed an agreement at the White House this week to normalize relations with Israel, signaling a diplomatic shift in the Middle East and a new alliance against Iran. President Donald Trump lauded the deal as historic. But the agreement — between countries already at peace with each other — could further isolate the Palestinians, who immediately condemned the pact. How significant is the deal? We’ll talk with policy experts about the deal and other recent news from the region.
What Trump’s Middle East Deal Means for the Region
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(L-R) Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Guests:
Bilal Saab, senior fellow and founding director of the Defense and Security Program, The Middle East Institute; former Pentagon official with oversight responsibilities for the Middle East
Dalia Dassa Kaye, director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy and a senior political scientist, RAND Corporation
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