U.S. Ambassador To The United Nations Says A Third Arab Nation To Reach Peace Agreement With Israel In Next 2 Days

#BREAKING: @USAmbUN tells @AlArabiya that "another country will sign a normalization deal with Israel in the next day or two" pic.twitter.com/xDXZoux4gA

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) September 23, 2020

AMN: Third Arab nation to reach peace agreement with Israel in next 2 days: US envoy

BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:40 A.M.) – The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Kraft, said on Wednesday that another Arab country would join the process of normalization with Israel within the next two days.

In statements to Al-Arabiya, Kraft said that another Arab nation will conduct a peace deal with Israel and more will quickly follow suit.

Kraft said that Washington hopes Saudi Arabia will sign a normalization agreement with Israel.

She added, “We will certainly welcome the fact that Saudi Arabia will be next (on the path of normalization), but what is important is that we focus on the agreements and do not allow the Iranian regime to exploit the good intentions of Bahrain, the Emirates or Israel.”

Some Israeli news outlets have speculated that either Oman, Morocco, or Sudan will be the next Arab League nation to sign a normalization agreement with Israel.

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Update: Third Arab Nation Will Reach Peace Deal With Israel In Next 2 Days: US Envoy (Zero Hedge)

WNU Editor: With the exception of a few websites, no one else is reporting this story.

UAE And Bahrain Sign US-Brokered Deals With Israel At The White House

Daily Mail: Trump gives Netanyahu a 'golden key to the White House' as he hosts leaders of Israel, UAE and Bahrain for peace ceremony, claiming more Arab countries will join move to recognize Israel

* President Donald Trump presided over the signing of historic diplomatic deals between Israel, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain
* 'After decades of division and conflict we mark up the dawn of a new Middle East,' Trump said at the ceremony
* The president said more Gulf nations were preparing to sign similar deals to the one being inked on the South Lawn
* He gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a golden key to White House
* UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani also signed the agreement
* More than 200 people crowded on South Lawn of White House with no social distancing and few people wearing masks
* Trump was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for deal
* Trump and his allies hope the signing ceremony will burnish the president's credentials as a peacemaker at the height of his reelection campaign

President Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed the 'dawn of a new Middle East' when he presided over the signing of historic diplomatic deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in a deal designed to boost his reputation as a statesman.

'We're here this afternoon to change the course of history. After decades of division and conflict we mark up the dawn of a new Middle East. Thanks to the great courage of the leaders of these three countries. We take a major stride toward a future in which people of all faiths and backgrounds live together in peace and prosperity,' Trump said in his remarks.

The president said more nations will follow suit in signing the accord that normalizes relations between the Jewish state and the Arab nations.

'These agreements prove that the nations of the region are breaking free from the failed approaches of the past. Today signing sets history on a new course. And there will be other countries very very soon, that will follow these great leaders,' the president said.

Trump emphasized the historic nature of the agreement.

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More News On The UAE And Bahrain Signing US-Brokered Deals With Israel

Trump hails 'dawn of new Middle East' with UAE-Bahrain-Israel deals -- BBC
Trump: Israeli pacts with 2 Arab states signal ‘new’ Mideast -- AP
UAE and Bahrain sign US-brokered deals with Israel -- France 24
In break with past, UAE and Bahrain sign U.S.-brokered deals with Israel -- Reuters
UAE, Bahrain and Israel sign historic accords at White House event -- The Guardian
UAE and Bahrain sign normalization deal with Israel at White House -- DW
Israel, UAE and Bahrain sign US-brokered normalisation deals -- Al Jazeera

White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner Believes That The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict May Not Be Solvable

Jared Kushner meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, June 21 2017. (photo credit:AMOS BEN GERSHOM, GPO)

WIRED: Kushner On Middle East Peace: "What Do We Offer That's Unique? I Don't Know."

ON MONDAY, WHITE House senior adviser Jared Kushner spoke to a group of congressional interns as part of an ongoing, off-the-record summer lecture series. During the question-and-answer portion of the event, Kushner may have inadvertently offered some insight into the negotiating tactics he is using in the Middle East.

Prior to Kushner's talk, Katie Patru, the deputy staff director for member services, outreach, and communications, told the assembled interns, "To record today’s session would be such a breach of trust, from my opinion. This town is full of leakers and everyone knows who they are, and no one trusts them. In this business your reputation is everything. I’ve been on the Hill for 15 years. I’ve sat in countless meetings with members of congress where important decisions were being made. During all those years in all those meetings, I never once leaked to a reporter…. If someone in your office has asked you to break our protocol and give you a recording so they can leak it, as a manager, that bothers me at my core."

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WNU Editor: As an optimist I like to believe that everything can be negotiated and solved .... a point of view that I will admit is always being strained when it comes to the Middle East peace process.

More News On White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner Remarks That He Believes That The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict May Not Be Solvable

Israeli-Palestinian conflict may not be solvable, Kushner says on tape -- Times of Israel
'I don't know,' Kushner says on Mideast peace: 'There may be no solution' -- The Jerusalem Post
Jared Kushner offers insight into his approach to Middle East peace process -- CBS
Kushner on Middle East: 'I don't know' what makes administration's approach unique -- The Hill
Jared Kushner on negotiating peace in the Middle East: 'What do we offer that's unique? I don't know' -- Washington Examiner
Leaked audio of Jared Kushner reveals he thinks 'there may be no solution' in Middle East -- AOL
Kushner: Nothing Much Has Happened in Middle East Over Past 50 Years -- Kevin Drum, Mother Jones

New Hope For Middle East Peace?

Obama, left, met Mubarak in Cairo when he delivered his speech to the Muslim world in June [EPA]

Form Al Jazeera:

Barack Obama will try to re-invigorate his push for a Middle East peace settlement as he hosts talks with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, at the White House.

Before Tuesday's meeting with the US president, Mubarak held discussions with Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and other senior officials on Monday.

Mubarak was supposed to have visited Washington earlier this year but postponed the trip because of the death of his grandson.

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My Comment: President Mubarak has a point .... the peace process is both substance and process .... there may be no substance yet, but there is a need to get the process moving. Will President Obama advance his peace plan earlier .... I guess we will see.

Relations Between The U.S. And Israel Take Another Turn For The Worse

U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, April 2009

US-Israel Meeting Scrapped Over Settlements -- AFP

JERUSALEM (AFP) — A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Middle East envoy was called off because of disagreements over settlement growth, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

Officials close to Netanyahu said he had called off the meeting and denied an Israeli newspaper report that Washington had cancelled it over Israel's refusal to halt "natural growth" in the settlements.

"The decision to cancel the meeting ... was taken by the prime minister. We must be sure before such a meeting that professional work has been done on a series of issues," a senior Israeli official told AFP.

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My Comment: Why have a meeting when you cannot agree on what many observers in the region believe is the most important obstacle to peace. But for many Arabs in the Middle East, they will see this as another U.S. failure in reigning in Israel.

Egypt To Be Center Stage in Obama’s Address to Arabs

Candidate Obama at the Wailing Wall (Summer 2008)

From The New York Times:

CAIRO — President Obama’s decision to deliver a speech here next month has given significant encouragement to a once powerful ally that has grown increasingly frustrated over its waning regional influence and its inability to explain to its citizens why it remains committed to a Middle East peace process that has failed to produce a better life for Palestinians.

After eight years in which Egypt felt unappreciated and bullied by the Bush administration, Egyptian officials were gleeful about Cairo’s selection last week for the president’s address to the Muslim world. They said that it proved Egypt remained the capital of the Arab world and that it eased concerns that Washington might undermine its Arab allies in exchange for a grand deal with their rivals in Iran.

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My Comment: The problem with his speech is that I can almost predict what President Obama will be saying. What he will need to do is to go beyond the usual platitudes and the listing of desired goals and do something different and more substantive.

But will it have an impact?

When he gives his speech next month, Lebanon will be having a government that is run by Hezbollah, Iran is closer to its nuclear weapon, and Iraqi violence will be increasing. As to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, both sides will still be far apart from any possible form of reconciliation, and if the King of Jordan is right, war clouds will be forming on the horizon.

Not an ideal environment to give a speech on Islam when Islam .... in particular radical Islam .... has no desire to listen.

Sheikh Attacks Israel, Pope Walks Out

Pope Benedict XVI (R) walks past senior Palestinian Muslim cleric Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi as he arrives to attend a meeting with representatives of the organizations for the inter-religious dialogue in the Our Lady of Jerusalem Centre in Jerusalem May 11, 2009. Tamimi fiercely denounced Israeli policy in Jerusalem in the presence of Pope Benedict on Monday and appealed to the pope to help end what he called the "crimes" of the Jewish state. REUTERS/Tony Gentile (ISRAEL RELIGION POLITICS)

From Jerusalem Post:

A leading Palestinian cleric commandeered an evening devoted to interfaith dialogue with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday to rant against Israel for "killing Gaza's children," "bulldozing Palestinian homes" and "destroying mosques."

In an impromptu speech, delivered in Arabic at the Notre Dame Pontifical Institute in Jerusalem, Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, chief Islamic judge in the Palestinian Authority, launched a 10-minute tirade against the State of Israel for confiscating Palestinians' land and carrying out war crimes against the residents of Gaza.

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My Comment: This symbolizes perfectly why peace is next to impossible in this part of the world. This is a battle and war based on religion .... and a battle that is centuries old. Pope Benedict did the right thing to walk out .... but I am sure that no one on the Muslim street was paying attention.

Egypt: Israeli Nukes 'Greatest Threat' To Security

Dimona is believed to be housing Israel's nuclear warheads. Photo from Press TV.

From The Jerusalem Post:

Western policies based on pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear program will fail because they disregard Israeli nuclear capabilities, which is "the first and greatest threat to security in the region," an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor categorically rejected that classification.

"If he can quote at least one occasion in which Israel has threatened any of its neighbors with the alleged nuclear weapon, then his statements would gain him credibility," Palmor said. "Unless he produces evidence to support his claims, these kinds of remarks are completely out of line."

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My Comment: Nothing new in this announcement .... this is all bread and circuses for the Arab street. But what is different is that this news is being made now .... weeks after Hezbollah agents were arrested in Egypt and accused of fostering terrorism.

It appears that the Egyptian Government is positioning itself as an alternative to both Israel and Iran in the eyes of public opinion. In a certain way they are hinting that as far as they are concerned .... both Iran and Israel come from the same cloth, and both are a threat to Middle Eastern peace.

Obama Redraws Middle East Policy

Photo: US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signalled greater diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE/The Age

From The Age:

ON HIS third day in office, US President Barack Obama has dramatically shifted America's stance towards the Middle East conflict.

He has called on Israel to open its borders with Gaza to allow humanitarian aid and commerce to flow and said one of America's most talented negotiators would try to broker a more extensive peace in the troubled region.

Mr Obama also announced plans to close the contentious detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year and to ban all forms of "enhanced interrogation" used by the CIA, branding them torture and contrary to American values.

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My Comment: The problem in the Middle East has always been the unwillingness from Islamic fundamentalists and their supporters to accept Israel as a viable state. Since this group represents the majority opinion in the region, President Obama can do all that he can to pressure Israel to make compromises, but Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhoood, and all the rest .... on this fundamental point it is clear that will never agree to it.

President Obama and Sec. of State Clinton will try to work with the "moderates" .... but these moderates are few in number, and they do not have the support of the Arab street.

Clinton Says U.S. Must Not 'Give Up' On Mideast Peace

Hillary Clinton testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington during her confirmation hearing to become the next U.S. Secretary of State on Tuesday. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

From International Herald Tribune:

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton signaled on Tuesday that the United States would try to increase its diplomatic contacts with Iran and Syria, and she declared that the vision of Israelis and Palestinians co-existing in peace and prosperity must not be abandoned.

Despite the "seemingly intractable problems" in the Middle East, "we cannot give up on peace," Senator Clinton said before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is considering whether to confirm her selection as President-elect Barack Obama's top diplomat.

Clinton said America must recognize Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas rockets but cannot ignore the suffering of Palestinians citizens, as well as Israelis. "Real security for Israel, normal and positive relations with its neighbors" as well as genuine security for Palestinians must continue to be America's ideal, she said.

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My Comment: Her husband failed in this endeavor .... I guess she wants to one up her hubby. Form my point of view, I wish her the best of luck.

Mideast Awaits New Leaders, Direction In 2009

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Former President Jimmy Carter urged new focus on Israeli-Palestinian peace last week. But other accords may be more feasible.

Beirut, Lebanon - Exhausted by years of conflict and political stagnation, the peoples of the Middle East are looking to President-elect Barack Obama to help shape a new direction for the region after he assumes office next month.

But it is a former US president that is pushing once more for a renewed effort to resolve the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict that many believe lies at the heart of the region's woes.

On a recent tour of Lebanon and Syria, former President Jimmy Carter urged a back-to-basics approach to one of the world's most intractable political predicaments.

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My Comment: Everyone is waiting for President-Elect Obama to assume the office. Each side expects him to be more favorable to their side .... but my gut tells me that a lot of people are going to be disappointed.

New Resolution On Mideast Peace Passes At UN

Photo: Quartet: At the UN Monday were (l. to r.) Javier Solana, EU foreign-policy chief; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Ban Ki Moon, UN secretary-general; and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. AP

From The Christian Science Monitor:

With Bush set to leave, the administration tries to nudge forward the process it started in 2007.

United Nations, N.Y. - The Bush administration, looking to shore up its foreign-policy legacy, and the international community, hoping to influence the future Obama White House, are teaming up to press the Middle East peace process forward.

It's an against-the-odds attempt. But the first United Nations Security Council resolution on the peace process in five years – since the diplomacy-stalling Iraq war in 2003 – was approved Tuesday. The vote was 14 to 0, with Libya abstaining.

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My Comment: Middle East peace resolution #28945. Sigh ..... you got to be kidding. Who are they trying to fool.

The Saudi Initiative / Waiting for Obama

From Haaretz:

President Shimon Peres related that Barack Obama was "very impressed" by the Arab peace plan, when Peres told him about it during their meeting in Jerusalem. Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu says Obama was very impressed by Netanyahu's "economic peace" plan.

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A Palestinian State Soon?

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas leave following a joint press conference at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Rice said on Friday Palestinians should soon have their own state, though she has made it clear she does not expect a breakthrough before Barack Obama moves into the White House. (AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand)

Palestinian State Coming Soon, Says Rice
-- Yahoo News/AFP

TEL AVIV (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday Palestinians should soon have their own state, though she has made it clear she does not expect a breakthrough before Barack Obama moves into the White House.

"They are dignified people and I am certain the day is coming soon when they have a state that will be in accordance with that great national dignity," she said after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah, the West Bank's political capital.

Rice has nevertheless tacitly admitted that Israel and the Palestinians were unlikely to reach a peace deal by the time US President George W. Bush's mandate ends on January 20, despite earlier pledges to seek agreement by the end of this year.

"The distance to peace has been narrowed although peace has not been achieved," she said at Friday's news conference.

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My Comment: The Israelis are completely disorganized and getting ready for the February election which will only produce more division and disorganization .... and the Palestinians are busy shooting at each other .... yup .... lets have a Palestinian state.

Oh brother .....

Rice Cedes Peace Effort To Obama As Israel Braces For U.S. Role

From Bloomberg:

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to the Middle East today to salvage what she can of a peace strategy for Barack Obama as Israeli leaders brace for a new U.S. administration that may push harder for concessions.

The Bush administration abandoned the goal of reaching a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians on its watch yesterday, saying Rice is going to lay the groundwork for her successor. President-elect Obama has pledged to be actively involved in negotiations.

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No Peace In The Middle East This Year .... Next Year .... The Following Year .... Etc.

US President George W. Bush is flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (left) and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas after talks at the White House following the Annapolis conference in 2007. (AFP/File/Saul Loeb)

Mideast Peace Deal Unlikely By Year's End: White House

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A Middle East peace deal is unlikely in 2008, the White House said Thursday, acknowledging openly and explicitly for the first time what would be a major diplomatic disappointment.

"We do not think that it's likely that it would happen before the end of the year," US President George W. Bush's chief spokeswoman, Dana Perino, told reporters.

"We realize that, with the political changes that have happened in Israel over the passed couple of months, and really since early summer that that started, that the prospects of being able to get one done became more unlikely," she said.

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My Comment: For anyone who is curious .... I am not optimistic.

Obama May Have To Put Mideast Peace On Backburner

From AFP:

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US president-elect Barack Obama, who made overhauling US foreign policy a cornerstone of his election bid, may be forced to put Mideast peace on the backburner for several months, analysts said.

As soon as Obama's historic White House victory was announced overnight Tuesday, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on him to "speed up efforts to achieve peace" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Middle East Peace Talks Being Speculated Upon

Chances For Peace Emerge In Mideast Clashes
-- Christian Science Monitor

On Thursday in Egypt, Israeli President Shimon Peres backed the 'spirit' of a Saudi proposal that offers Arab recognition of Israel.

Jerusalem - Both Israel and the United States soon will have new leaders at the helm. The Palestinians, too, are facing possible elections. During such transitional times for the three major players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, few expected any concrete steps toward peace.

But a new calm has emerged in the cross-border battle between Gazan militants and the Israeli army, Palestinian rival factions Fatah and Hamas are preparing for reconciliation talks, and on Thursday in Egypt Israeli President Shimon Peres backed the "spirit" of a 2002 Arab initiative that maps out regional peace.

Many unresolved issues stand in the way of real peace, but all parties seem newly interested in avoiding a return to the daily violence and finding interim solutions ahead of upcoming anniversaries, deadlines, and changes in leadership.

The cease-fire that Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas reached, expires Dec. 19, six months after it went into effect. Both sides would like to continue this calm.

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My Comment: The majority of Palestinians have trouble digesting the idea of an independent Jewish state on what they consider is Palestinian land. You can never have peace if a majority of your people do not want to accept the conditions that will give peace. The same can also be said for many on the Israeli side.