United States Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft told the news outlet Al Arabiya that another Arab nation is going to sign a peace agreement with Israel in the “next day or two.”
Her comment to Al Arabiya reads in full: “Our plan is to bring more countries, which we will have more being announced very soon …. One [country will sign] in the next day or two. I know others are going to be following.” Craft also expressed hope that Saudi Arabia eventually will normalize ties with Israel and added that it’s important to ensure that the Iranian government doesn’t “exploit the goodwill of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), or Israel. We want to bring everyone on board in hopes that this will allow the Iranian citizens to see that people really want peace in the Middle East, and they are part of this peace.”
Craft’s comments come after Palestinian Authority (PA) Social Affairs Minister Ahmed Majdalani told the Israeli public broadcasting radio outlet Kan that Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Oman and Sudan have been in negotiations to normalize ties with Israel. President Donald Trump said after the Sept. 15 signing of the diplomatic agreements between Israel and Bahrain and Israel and the UAE that seven to nine countries could soon follow with agreements, including Saudi Arabia.
However, the Saudis have publicly stated that the Gulf Arab nation won’t normalize ties with Israel until a two-state solution is reached with the Palestinians.
PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the Arab League on Sept. 22 that the PA won’t be chairing the Arab League because “there is no honor in seeing Arabs rush towards normalization during its presidency.” The Palestinians view the agreements with Israel as a betrayal because a unified Arab bloc was seen as a bargaining chip in talks to establish a Palestinian state.
