The Takeaway: Will US presidential election impact Israeli decision on annexation?
Five takes on the UAE Deal: Israel as ‘belle of the ball’; a ‘nonsense’ deal; a business windfall; Egypt’s missed opportunities.
White House reassures UAE that it will not back annexation 'for some time'
Israel’s retreat from annexing West Bank settlements as an apparent condition of its establishment of diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) keeps the focus on US President Donald Trump as the ultimate guarantor of the agreement.
With last week’s deal with the UAE, annexation seems dead and buried, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted he hasn’t permanently ruled it out. It was, after all, his ‘legacy’ issue, and the US, UAE, Israel statement speaks only of Israel ‘suspending’ its annexation decision.
Bibi of course had reason to hope that Trump might have considered giving him the okay if Trump felt it might help him in the US presidential contest with Joe Biden in November.
Now the question is whether the UAE will formally condition the bilateral deal on Israel’s commitment to hold off on annexation or continue to rely on the US guarantee to prevent annexation, whatever the outcome of the November election.
