United Arab Emirates: Israel

(asked on 26th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the signing of the Abraham Accords on stability in the Middle East.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 4th December 2020

The UK warmly welcomed the normalisation agreements between Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan. These are historic steps which sees the normalisation of relations between friends of the UK. We also welcome the suspension of plans for Israeli annexation of the West Bank - a move the UK has opposed - as it would have been counterproductive to securing peace in the region. The changing regional context and converging Arab and Israeli interests presents an opening to make progress on the Israel-Palestine issue. The UK welcomed therefore the announcement on 19 November that the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel have agreed to restore cooperation. Restoring cooperation is an important and constructive step towards peace, and shows both sides are willing to put the needs and security of both Israelis and Palestinians first. We need to build on this momentum through further dialogue and compromise to move towards a two state solution and a lasting solution to the conflict.

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