Trump announces Bahrain, Israel 'peace deal'

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced Friday a "peace deal" between Israel and Bahrain, which becomes the second Arab country to settle with its former foe in less than a month.

"Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain agree to a Peace Deal - the second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days!" Trump tweeted.

A joint US-Israel-Bahrain statement said there would be "full diplomatic relations."

Bahrain has agreed to formalize the deal with Israel at a ceremony on September 15 at the White House, where the United Arab Emirates will also sign off on its own thaw with Israel announced in mid-August.

According to the statement, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump talked earlier Friday before announcing the breakthrough.

At the White House Trump celebrated, calling it "a truly historic day" and "so interesting" that he was able to make the announcement on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.

"When I took office the Middle East was in a state of absolute chaos," said Trump, who faces a difficult re-election in just over seven weeks.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also hailed the agreement.

"Citizens of Israel, I am moved to be able to tell you that this evening, we are reaching another peace agreement with another Arab country, Bahrain.

This agreement adds to the historic peace with the United Arab Emirates," Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language statement.

And in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, a senior official said the deal would boost regional "security, stability, prosperity."

Trump redraws the lines

Until now, Israel has been able to strike only two similar peace accords with Arab countries -- Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 -- and Trump is hoping that the diplomatic successes will give him badly needed momentum going into the November 3 election.

The Republican businessman has styled himself as the most pro-Israeli US president in history.

He has taken a string of decisions highly beneficial to Israel, from recognizing disputed Jerusalem as the country's capital to tearing up an international accord that had been meant to end Iran's isolation in return for verified controls to ensure against militarization of its nuclear industry.

At the same time, Trump has pushed to wind down the United States' own military footprint in the region after decades of bloody entanglements. His earlier success in getting an Israel-UAE normalization prompted a right-wing Norwegian member of parliament to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The UAE's earlier announcement of a normalization of relations with Israel broke with years of Arab League policy on the Middle East conflict but has seen pushback from the Palestinians and Iran, who both termed the deal a betrayal.

"I can see a lot of good things happening with respect to the Palestinians," he added, without giving details.