Washington: The Foreign Ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have arrived in Washington to attend a signing ceremony of peace treaties with Israel.
On Sunday, the top Bahraini diplomat, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, landed in Washington, where the official ceremony is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, according to a statement by the country's Foreign Ministry. Meanwhile, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in the US capital at the head of a high-level official UAE delegation to participate in the signing ceremony of the historic peace accord, the State-run Emirates News Agency reported.
On August 13, Israel and the UAE agreed to normalise relations and establish diplomatic ties between the two states, which, among other things, entailed Israel giving up its plans to expand sovereignty over the West Bank's territories. The landmark deal was brokered by the US.
Expectations have been voiced ever since that the other countries of the region will follow the UAE's example.
On September 11, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa officially announced a similar agreement in a trilateral phone conversation with US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The first two Arab countries that recognised Israel were Egypt and Jordan, in 1979 and 1994, respectively.