US assured UAE it won’t back Israel annexation before 2024 at earliest, ToI told

T. Belman. Israel has not agreed to table the extension of sovereignty so they’re not committed to it.  So UAE have to rely on Trump’s assurance only. Israel is not even bound to wait for Trump’s approval.  She can extend sovereignty before the end of the year without Trump’s approval.

Besides, it is implied that “all things being equal” preceded Trump’s assurance that he  would not recognize Israel’s annexation etc.

Notice he didn’t assure them that Israel won’t extend sovereignty for 4 years, only that he wouldn’t recognize it if she did.  I am not all all concerned about Trump’s assurance.  Things can change.

UAE prioritized receiving assurances from Washington, sources say, given that Netanyahu has made clear he won’t advance controversial move without US support

By JACOB MAGID, TOI Today,

(L-R, rear) US senior presidential advisor Jared Kushner, US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien clap for US President Donald Trump after he announced an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize diplomatic ties, at the White House, August 13, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
(L-R, rear) US senior presidential advisor Jared Kushner, US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien clap for US President Donald Trump after he announced an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize diplomatic ties, at the White House, August 13, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

NEW YORK — The Trump administration gave the UAE a commitment during normalization negotiations that Washington would not recognize Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank until 2024 at the earliest, sources with direct knowledge of the matter have told The Times of Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had for months promised to annex large parts of the West Bank as early as July 1, but that plan was officially suspended as part of the normalization agreement with the UAE. However, the sides have not formally provided an exact time-frame for how long the matter has been “taken off the table,” as US President Donald Trump put it last month.

According to three sources with direct knowledge of the normalization negotiations, Emirati officials, led by the UAE’s Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba, focused on seeking assurances from the US, rather than Israel, on the matter.

They were largely uninterested in receiving an Israeli commitment to an annexation freeze, the sources said, since they understood that Netanyahu would not move forward with the move without US support; the Israeli premier for months had said as much himself.

Rather, a key priority for the UAE during the negotiations was receiving a commitment from the US that it withhold its support for annexation if Netanyahu once again began promising to immediately carry it out, the sources said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to plant a tree during an event on the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat, in the settlement of Mevo’ot Yericho, in the West Bank near the Palestinian city of Jericho, Monday, February 10, 2020. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Trump administration negotiators, led by senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, agreed to set a timetable that was consistent with the one laid out for the Palestinians in the Trump peace plan, the sources said.

The Trump Administration’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan unveiled in January 2020 gives the Palestinian Authority a four-year window to engage with the peace plan, during which Israel is barred from expanding into areas earmarked under the plan for a future Palestinian state.

The UAE received a commitment from Washington that it would hold off on giving its blessing for Israeli annexation based on that same time-frame — that is, until January 2024.

“If Trump wins a second term, that [time-frame] covers [them] for most of it. If [Democratic nominee Joe] Biden wins, the issue won’t be relevant anyways because of his opposition to annexation,” said one of the sources with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration is hoping to use the final year of its hypothetical second term to “hold the Palestinians’ feet to the fire,” using the possibility of it otherwise backing annexation as a last piece of leverage to bring the PA to the table, another source said.

The White House declined to comment for this story, as did UAE officials in Washington and New York. Netanyahu has insisted that his plan to expand Israeli sovereignty to all the settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, in full coordination with the US, remains “on the table.

September 14, 2020 | 45 Comments »

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45 Comments / 45 Comments

  1. @ Ted Belman:

    I was sure I’d heard or read it recently. Just now looked up the internet and I see that a note of August 12th 2020, Jordan had banned the Muslim Brotherhood. I have no idea how accurate it is, but it confirms what I read elsewhere.

  2. @ Ted Belman:
    Why do I get a “timeout” message on this site while doing absolutely nothing?
    Is it trying to log me off?
    Also, the time count for editing the posts became probably 10 times faster.

  3. @ Reader:

    On what plane of existence are you that you can see ny referring to “leftists” as primitive….?? Very exclusive, with space for one person only, and then you insult my intellect…..more than insult; you denigrate and dismiss it.

    Like Jack Benny when held up for “your money or your life”…… Wait a minute, I’m thinking about it..

  4. @ Ted Belman:

    Did you take into account the margin notes that Feisal wrote; where he said that if everything in the agreement wasn’t carried out that it all would be null (paraphrased). I assume you did. I know you made meticulous preparations and I have the same desire for fulfillment that you have, although I am not invested in it like you and Mudar.

    I read somewhere recently that the Muslim Brotherhood had been outlawed. I thought it was in Jordan…..?

  5. @ Edgar G.:
    When we conceived of this plan we picked up from the Feisal Weizmann Agreement of 1919.. Everything that is happening now is taking inspiration from the same thing. Jordan presents a problem as they are the headquarters for the Muslim Brotherhood and they are against Jordan being Palestine. That’s why the King has to be replaced.

  6. @ Edgar G.:
    How can you divide everything into leftist/rightist, liberal/conservative,Democrat/Republican, communist/capitalist?
    This is so primitive, one cannot even call it thinking.
    When you don’t want to think about something, you just find a label for it, and then judge its worth according to the biased label you’ve just randomly assigned to it.
    I think these Abraham Accords serve the same purpose as the failed “sovereignty” project.
    Die zelbe kaleh, nor andersh geshleyert.

  7. @ Ted Belman:

    Well, I’m not ignoring it, I played it over twice. But all we have is what Mudar SAYS, with no indication that such is actually happening. I don’t say I disbelieve him, because I want it as much as he and you do, even more if possible. This has been his-and your problem all along. Some tangible proof. And it’s been dragging on for years after supposed culmination, with no appreciable difference. Except now this Peace with UAE and Bahrein. But there’s no indication that Mudar’s efforts have had any effect in bringing them about. He isn’t even mentioned.

    The Arab guy who was waving his arms about, got very excited I noticed. And I feel that some of the translation was omitted, unless it takes 3 Arab words to cover one English word. I know that with Hebrew it is the opposite, that single Hebrew words often express a whole English phrase of several words. .

  8. @ Michael S:
    Simple. Israel, because of the overwhelming support from Trump holds itself far closer to what the US wants and shuns. They will not do anything to annoy the Administration, whilst this “closeness”, almost cuddling, is holding sway. Israel is showing it’s gratitude to the US by not publicly disputing anything.. At the same time, this is the public face of it, and I’m sure that under the official facade, Israel can openly make it’s concerns and problems with the Deal, known and acted on..

    My goodness, I thought I was responding to Reader…Sorry…I didn’t pay proper attention..

  9. @ Edgar G.:
    Would all those Nobel Peace Prizes be raining from the sky if Abraham Accords were good for the Jews?
    Arafat, Peres, and Rabin were rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prizes when they signed the Oslo Accords.
    I think everyone has figured out by now how “good” those Accords were for the Jews.
    If I recall correctly, they were also supposed to create the new Middle East?

  10. @ Vishnujana:
    Vishnujana, you said,

    “…what can you do? ”

    The most important thing any of us can do, is to know the truth and stand up for it. This cannot be defeated by lies, no matter how many people stand up for those lies. Lies all swim upstream. Eventually, they will all run out of strength and, if they do not spawn, become food for the eagles.

  11. @ Bear Klein:
    Hi, Bear. you said,

    “I do not believe Biden will attach Israel, I think that is not even close to real. He will do dumb things like Obama did and perhaps not even go as far, as Obama did.”

    Mr. Biden does not seem to be in command of his own mind, let alone capable of governing a country. If the Dems somehow steal the election, Kamala Harris (or someone else) will be the de facto President.

  12. Don’t give them an inch. Israel is the most civilized nation in the region. Muslims will always envy it (as they do with the Christians and Hindus). Whenever they get a majority Muslims always commit ethnic cleansing—whether Turk, Arab, Pakistani, Filipino, or Indonesian. They are a death cult what can you do?

    @ Michael S:

  13. “a friend in the WH” This friend is making sure that the two-state Final solution will happen, hopefully, on his watch, and he is already bragging about his Nobel Peace Prize.
    If these peace agreements with countries Israel is not at war with are really “peace for peace”, why is it necessary to include the “two-state solution” clauses in each of them when everybody knows this “solution” threatens Israel’s security like nothing else?
    “Palestinians” are not citizens or residents of the UAE, Oman, or Bahrain – why include the Israel-Palestinian problem solution into third-party agreements?
    In my opinion, it is ONLY to make sure that the two-state solution materializes.
    If Israel ever rejects the two-state solution (as it should have done long ago) after signing, it will at the same time renege on its peace agreements with every country that has this clause in their peace agreement.
    This is what the UAE foreign minister meant when he said: “there will now be leverage on Israel that will allow us to help the Palestinians” and that “under the agreement, Israel will suspend annexation of Palestinian lands and stop undermining the two-state solution.”
    And THIS is one of the many similar “miracles” Netanyahu wrought.
    If no one but me understands this, there is nothing more I can do to explain it.

  14. @ Michael S:
    Israel is better with a friend in the White House such as Trump. Israel has survived even when the occupant of the White House is not friendly such as Obama.

    The questions can the USA gets itself on a constructive path. Even if Trump wins the leftists in the USA will keep up the resistance to law and order plus they do not accept his Presidency.

    I do not believe Biden will attach Israel, I think that is not even close to real. He will do dumb things like Obama did and perhaps not even go as far, as Obama did.

  15. @ Bear Klein:
    Thanks for the explanation, Bear. I realize that Israeli sovereignty over Israeli land is a very important tomic here, almost most of what Israpundit is about.

    I get a small taste of it, considering that about half the people in the US seem intent on denying sovereignty to MY people (Americans, especially whites and Christians). It is disgusting, seeing that the “Palestinians” perpetrating their “Intifada” here are my fellow Americans, even my own relatives.

    As you say, “Israel needs to get along with the USA”. The sad reality is, that there could very well be no USA for Israel to get along with in a few months — Then what?

    “I think eventually if Trump is reelected or not…”

    If President Trump is not elected, the whole civilized world should bend over and kiss its behind goodbye. Based on “a book” I’ve been reading, I give a Harris/Biden administration about 3-1/2 years of insane mis-administration, before they agree with this perverse world that “everything is the fault of the Jews” and they collectively attack Israel. Enter the Samson option. I hope, if that happens, that Israel is ready.

  16. @ Reader:

    You are mis-describing the events. In discussing the 750,000 YESHA Jewish population, you use “home-made” terms like…. “seem to be afraid” “begging”, …”pleading” ….”please”…and other abject inventions of your mind.

    There is NO point in reprinting the huge blocks of information we all have already seen. What’s the point about Ashkenazi that was so important to reproduce. He gave Netanyahu a “Power of Attorney” to sign in the place of the Defence Minister…a natural and OBVIOUS thing to do.

    Should the strong lefty and Netanyahu enemy Ashkenazi, appear at a Peace signing which is almost the culmination of the many miracles that Netanyahu has produced, and has invested so much secret, hidden effort into…. Ashkenazi is merely an ephemeral flunky, a mediocre soldier, who, I hope will soon be gone from any political position with authority.

    I reckon that there are about 5-6-7 other countries poised, ready to open embassies in Jerusalem, a few have already made that announcement. 45 countries -so far- have sent approving announcements on this historic Abraham Accords.

  17. @ Bear Klein:

    I totally agree with each and all of your points. Perhaps you mean reserving 70-80% of YESHA for an Arab State is dangerous to Israel. I am absolutely against any portion of Eretz Yisrael being reserved for any sort of Arab state, even if it’s only the 30% you mention. They have NO legal, historical nor moral right to it, except as to habitation.
    And to my mind, because of what’s occurred with this population of terrorists, that habitation right, has been cancelled, and should be replaced by Residence permits good for ,say 5 years, contingent on good behaviour, and allegiance to the State of Israel.

  18. The Abraham Agreement is being signed to ensure the two-state Final solution (continued):

    Donald Trump: ‘Won’t be problem to sell F-35s to Emirates’
    Hours before signing peace agreement, US President addresses issue that could hurt Israel’s military advantage in Middle East.
    Tags: F-35 stealth Donald Trump Abraham Accords UAE
    Mordechai Sones , 15/09/20 16:22
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287335
    Earlier, Emiran Foreign Minister Anwar Gergash also spoke about the F35. “We have legitimate requests in the agreement. Any thought of war with Israel no longer exists,” he said.

    He noted that “under the agreement, Israel will suspend annexation of Palestinian lands and stop undermining the two-state solution.

    “Political issues and differences in attitudes should be resolved but should not be obstacles to building healthy relationships,” Gergash said.

    He expressed hope that the normalization would also help establish a Palestinian state and peace with Israel. “We broke the psychological barrier and that was the most important thing once you realize that what you’ve been doing for so many years doesn’t work, then everything else becomes simpler.”

  19. The Abraham Agreement is being signed to ensure the two-state Final solution:

    Netanyahu did not have authority to sign UAE deal
    Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi forced to step in over legal hurdle to signing of Abraham Accords in Washington today.
    Tags: Abraham Accords Binyamin Netanyahu Gabi Ashkenazi UAE
    Arutz Sheva Staff , 15/09/20 15:52
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287331
    Earlier today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, said that the agreement to be signed today with Israel would include a reference to the two-state solution as part of a mention of previous agreements which have been signed. The agreement will emphasize basic positions and will address additional bilateral agreements to be signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
    Gargash told Walla correspondent Barak Ravid that following the agreements with Israel for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain “there will now be leverage on Israel that will allow us to help the Palestinians and make it clear to Israel that it needs to compromise and pursue a more sensible policy vis a vis the Palestinians.”
    “The commitment we received from Israel not to annex is very clear to me. The presence of the United States as a mediator ensures that the freeze on annexation is real and long-term. The Palestinians need to take advantage of the situation that has arisen and return to talks. A policy of an empty chair and a lack of connections will not bring results,” he said.

    See, the Arabs understand the situation perfectly.
    This is a poisoned trap for Israel to replace the “sovereignty” poisoned trap – both include the two-state clause.
    The million $ question is: why is ISRAEL doing this?
    National suicide has suddenly become an option?

  20. @ Edgar G.:
    Read the article by Dr. Hanan Shai which I posted – is his article also nonsense?
    It is the Likud, Meretz, and all the rest of them.
    Even the settlers themselves seem to be afraid to make too much noise. They just keep begging for the Planning Committee to, please, convene to let the construction on the long approved thousands of units start (who the heck needs this extra obstacle if the units have been approved?)
    They don’t even argue against the EXISTENCE of this committee, they just meekly ask that it finally meet to let them build.
    Aliyah and settlement are just not fashionable anymore in spite of all the Jabotinsky memorial lectures that they advertise.
    What seems to be in fashion now is the creation of another Arab state in most of Judea and Samaria (ANOTHER unilateral “painful sacrifice for peace”).
    The US military and security establishments know for a fact since the 1960s that Judea and Samaria are essential for Israel’s security.
    Then WHY is the US so actively promoting (by hook or by crook) a hostile Arab state on most of that territory PLUS some giveaways from within the Green Line?
    WHY does it keep negotiating on behalf of the “Palestinians” who keep playing hard to get and acting hurt and insulted while Israel is forced, by deceit if necessary, into another one of the “painful concessions” to “make it easier for the “Palestinians” to come to the negotiating table” to receive their state stolen from Israel’s Biblical land?
    And that would be IN ADDITION to the 78% of the Mandate that the British stole to create what is now Jordan!
    THIS is nonsense, not my arguments.

  21. @ Ted Belman:
    Also, if it is not strange, WHY wasn’t this question asked much earlier, BEFORE the joyful signing of the “Abraham” Accords in the US after which NOT ratifying the accords would be much more difficult if not impossible (“those ungrateful Jews, etc.” when Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for this achievement and they would even think of depriving him of it?)

  22. @ Ted Belman:
    I didn’t say it was strange.
    I felt a sense of relief that legislation like this actually exists in Israel.
    I merely posted 2 articles from Arutz7 which showed that it was not common knowledge that the Prime Minister has no right to approve treaties on his own like an absolute monarch which is the way he has been acting the whole time, and even an absolute monarch consults with his ministers and doesn’t negotiate in secret from them.
    I said “seemingly” because I think that Netanyahu is sure that the government and the Knesset will simply rubber stamp the treaties or that they won’t dare to disapprove after TRUMP HIMSELF decided it was “good for Israel and for the whole region”.
    The legalities will be observed but only as a formality.

  23. @ Edgar G.:
    Not so.. The Plan gave Israel the right to extend sovereignty immediate providing they agreed to a construction freeze in Area C and to negotiate in good faith.
    Since they were prevented from extending sovereignty immediately, the deal is off.

  24. @ Reader:

    Please Please….. Stop talking nonsense again. You are in that mood. What sort of sentient, nationalistic Jew could say that the LIKUD Govt is dismantling the State…..You’re getting your info from Meretz…..????

  25. @ Ted Belman:

    Well, the Deal of The Century contained the agreement that Israel would not move on extending sovereignty to the 70% for 4 years. So it’s the same thing just dressed up Differently.

  26. All is not lost (seemingly).

    United Arab Emirates agreement requires government ratification
    Legal advisor to PM’s Office responds to allegations against signing political agreements not yet approved by ministers.
    Tags: agreement UAE Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
    Mordechai Sones , 14/09/20 17:19
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287240
    Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office Shlomit Barnea-Fargo admits the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, to be signed tomorrow in the White House, cannot enter into force before the government approves it.
    She responded to a letter sent by Adv. Gilad Barnea to the Prime Minister, senior ministers, and the Attorney General, arguing that Binyamin Netanyahu has no authority to approve an agreement alone, but requires the approval by the government.
    Barnea-Fargo wrote in response, “According to the information provided to us, in the agreement to be signed this week, it will be explicitly stated that it will not enter into force on the date of its signing, and it will be brought to the government for approval.
    “In addition, we were informed that in light of the importance of the agreement, the Prime Minister intends to propose to the government that it also be approved by the Knesset,” the legal advisor added.

  27. MK Nitzan Horowitz:
    ‘Peace in exchange for relinquishing sovereignty and freezing construction’
    Meretz Chair claims he learned UAE agreement also includes Judea/Samaria construction freeze. Source close to Prime Minister denies.
    Tags: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Nitzan Horowitz UAE
    Mordechai Sones , 14/09/20 18:36
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287244
    “Tomorrow in Washington the Prime Minister of Israel and the Foreign Ministers of the Emirates and Bahrain will sign a normalization of relations. Many people ask why the agreements were not brought for government approval, weren’t presented to the Knesset, and even in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee they weren’t discussed. Netanyahu is hiding the annexes and agreements with Bahrain and the Emirates. Those who hide do so because they have something to hide. These agreements are not ‘peace in exchange for peace’. These agreements are renunciation of annexation in exchange for normalization. I know from authorized sources that an Israeli agreement was given to freeze construction in the territories,” Horowitz said.

    He said, “Meretz welcomes both the normalization agreements and the cancellation of annexation, but we dislike and condemn Netanyahu’s plagiarism and attempt to exploit the agreements to deny the need for peace with the Palestinians.

    “As we seeit, in stark contrast to Netanyahu’s statements, these agreements, which will be signed in Washington tomorrow, have also been explicitly conditioned on an Israeli commitment to prevent operations in the territories that would harm the chances of reaching a two-state solution.

    “Once again it is proven, for the thousandth time: There is no normalization in the Middle East without Israeli agreement on a two-state solution, and there will be no real peace without reaching an agreement with the Palestinians. True peace, in solemn ceremonies done with our neighbors, out of willingness to pay prices. This is the long-awaited peace, this is the peace that will save lives,” Horowitz claimed.

    What better proof do you need that Israeli government is dismantling the Jewish state?
    “…they have led My people astray, saying: Peace, and there is no peace…” Ezekiel 13:10

  28. Yamina and Likud will hardly be seen with the settlers.
    All they do is fight in the Knesset.
    If they are “Right”, I don’t know what “Left” is anymore.
    “Eventually” means waiting for the Arabs to establish their “facts on the ground” and then “Oh, my God! We can’t commit “the crime” of expelling the Palestinians!” Instead, they will expel the Jewish settlements “to establish continuity” for each of the two states, one of which is not the little sister but a colony of the United States.
    Not 30% BUT SEVENTY % for the ARAB STATE!
    And then Israel will wake up when it’s too late.

  29. @ Michael SThe vast majority of the Likud, Yamina plus others in the government do want to settle in Judea/Samaria. For your information the Labor party actually started settling Judea/Samaria.

    It is political pragmatism questions. Israel does not want to cross Trump. Crossing Trump even from my very pro Sovereignty stance should be avoided when possible. Sitting from the Prime Minister’s chair even more. Israel needs to get along with the USA.

    Yes, Israel is a sovereign country but at times it acts as the little sister of the USA unfortuantedly. It has to know when it is important to act independently.

    Getting peace deals with two Arab Countries is important to Israelis across the political spectrum. The broad view is sovereignty can wait a bit. How long and when to apply it is important.

    I think eventually if Trump is reelected or not Israel should apply sovereignty to most of Area C excluding Arab villages which should be kept under military law. This reserving 30% for a PA state is dangerous for Israel.

  30. @ Michael S:
    Here is at least a partial explanation (just found this):

    The Effort to Dismantle the State of Israel
    By Dr. Hanan Shai September 6, 2020
    BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,732, September 6, 2020
    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/israel-existence-security/

    The words of the title have been going through my mind for months now and I didn’t want to believe my own perception.
    The author starts out with the coronavirus but this is not what the article is really about.

  31. @ Bear Klein:
    Hi, Bear

    Granted, I am not Israeli. It doesn’t make sense to me, that a sovereign state like Israel — especially one with no written constitution — should be powerless to enact laws concerning territory that is 100% under its jurisdiction. Rather, I tend to believe what Reader said: The powers that be in Israel simply do not WANT to settle YeSh.

  32. @ Michael S:
    You are absolutely right. The problem is, the Israeli politicians (led by Bibi) DO NOT WANT to settle it.
    Which law is better to apply in Judea and Samaria is just an exercise in semantics designed to obscure the issue.
    Their goal, believe it or not, is the two-state Final solution, and I have no explanation for their behavior.

  33. @ Bear Klein:

    If Yamina holds on even close to its newly found popularity, there is NO hope for a Right coalition without them, they would be in a position to made serious demands, so I’m not worried about it at all. I believe that if Netanyahu tried again to join with Blue and White, the LIKUD would rebel and tell him what’s what. The joining with Blue and White this last time and gibing in to them so much, was only in response to the Huge crisis, with the people demanding a coalition across-the-board govt. He won’t do that again, I’m sure.

  34. While Bibi is Prime Minister and Yamina is not in the coalition there will be no sovereignty applied.

    Only if Yamina was a vital part of a coalition would a government under Bibi apply sovereignty. Or better yet if Bennett was Prime Minister.

  35. It seems to me, that Israel’s interests are much better served by settling Area C than by “annexing” it. The land is already completely under Israeli control, and open to settlement If they annex it and don’t settle it, on the other hand, it will ultimately become mostly Arab just because of the cheap labor they could provide.