" US Ambassador to the US David Friedman clarified that the word which had been chosen to describe the situation was “suspended” and that the word had been chosen “very carefully” because it means a temporary halt. Sovereignty, Friedman said was “off the table” not but not “off the table permanently.”
“Israel has agreed not to do it. More than off the table, they have agreed not to do it," Trump said. "I think that very important. I think it was a great concession by Israel, I think it was a smart concession....HOWEVER, he could not clarify what would happen in the future, “right now it is off the table.”
The US Ambassador explained that, “we have an agreement with the Emirates. We are going to nail all the details, embassies, overflights, commercial. Then we are going to extrapolate that to the rest of the region.
“How long that takes, I cannot tell you. But we have prioritized peace over the sovereignty movement. It’s not off the table, it’s just something that has been deferred until we have given peace every single chance.”
When asked if a deal with the UAE could have been reached without Netanyahu’s decision to suspend annexation.
“I think you can't do both at the same time,” Friedman said. “Prioritize peace. Sovereignty after peace is given every opportunity.”
But, he said, Israel has not been asked to permanently abandoned the idea of annexation.
As Dr, Spyridon Litas wote in his article; "A New Reality for the Eastern Mediterranean", BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,691
In political theory there are two roads to follow when dealing with problems like these: an idealistic road, and a realistic road.
The first approach argues that if a state or region seeks a pathway toward stability and progress, it must first deal with the many challenges at hand.
The second approach urges the political entity to push forward and simultaneously find solutions to its current predicaments while ensuring its future prospects.
Inefficient governments that hide their failures behind structural drawbacks,readily favor avoiding any step outside their safety zones of conventional thinking or practice.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel have seen in this era of Iranian threats and the growing dangers in Turkey that a united front of enlightened leadership is needed.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel follow constructive policies on the domestic front. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have taken full notice that Israel has made itself into a “start-up nation” with one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world dedicated to finding solutions to daily threats that challenge its very survival,
The Israeli military’s edge is a tremendous boost to not only the security of it's citizens but to the internal economy and national prestige as well.
Though the UAE has been targeted by Iranian backed Shiite and Sunni (ISIS) radicals. The UAE has grown and developed in the last decade into a cosmopolitan hub that is a top tourist destination, a global champion of culture and sports. Under the leadership of Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan the UAE has embraced the "smart city- smart nation" concepts to improve the life of the people now and in the future and in so doing they have achieved top awards in AI and in the energy sector.
Saudi Arabia has also entered a phase of profound advances in both economy and society, though modernization will be a long and bumpy process. The kingdom is still a conservative political entity with a firm religious structure and a "unique" political functioning. Nevertheless, Riyadh has opposed religious radicalism (both Sunni and Shiite) and is a pillar of stability and rationality for the global crude oil market.
These three smart states are all pioneers in various aspects of international politics, technology, civic structure, and inter-religious dialogue. Their successes underline that it is irrational for the Eastern Mediterranean region to ignore its economic reconstruction or technological advancement while it deals with its geostrategic challenges. It is not sensible for the region to concentrate on those challenges at the expense of modernizing its economies and institutions, and vice versa.
In his speech regarding the UAE - Israel Peace Accord, as Tovah Lazaroff points out in her article from the Jerusalem Post Trump: "West Bank annexation 'off the table', Christianity part of UAE deal."
Part of President Trump's awareness of the Middle East that he and his advisors discussed before issuing the "Deal of the Century", was the ongoing tragedy confronting the Christian minority's in the Middle East. Specifically in Syria and Iraq in the aftermath of the genocidal actions of ISIS.
This has become a major issue with the President not only because of his political base but because of his humanity- which his detractors constantly deny.
"Protecting Christians in the Middle East is an important part of the nascent peace deal that the USA has brokered between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, US President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington late Thursday as he clarified that West Bank annexation was off the table right now.
“Christians have been persecuted by some countries in particular in the Middle East. This [the UAE deal] is a big start, It is going to be a strong start, a very powerful start” toward protecting Christians in the Middle East, Trump said.
“If you look at the way Christians have been treated in some countries, it is beyond disgraceful. If I had information and if I had absolute proof of some of the stories we have heard, which is not easy to get, I would go in and do a number to those countries, like you would not believe,”
As a result protecting Christians in the Middle East would also be a component of future deals that would be signed between Israel and other countries in the region, he clarified.
Christianity “is a very big part of the overall negotiation. As countries come in, the UAE has agreed very strongly to represent us, I think will, very well, with respect to Christianity, because in the Middle East it is not treated well. It is treated horribly and very unfairly,”
The president also attempted to clarify some of the confusion with regard to any Israeli plans to annex portions of the West Bank.
In January the US had unveiled a peace plan that would have allowed Israel to annex up to 30% of the West Bank, but then the Trump administration asked Israel to wait before executing that plan.
On Thursday in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the as a result of the deal, annexation had been delayed but "would move forward".
Trump told reporters he believed that the Palestinians would also come to the negotiating table to make a deal with Israel, because they rely heavily on financial support of countries that are coming to the table.
The Palestinians are “supported by countries we are already talking to. Palestinians will, without saying it necessarily yet, they want to be part of what we are doing. I see peace between Israel and the Palestinians happening, as these big powerful wealthy countries come in, I think the Palestinians will follow quite naturally,” Trump said.
