US ambassador to Israel: Trump has dramatically changed Mideast foreign policy for the better
U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman tells 'Fox & Friends' that President Trump has turned around the Obama administration's abandonment of Israel with the UAE peace deal.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer told Fox News host Mark Levin Thursday that he sees the agreement normalizing relations between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi that was brokered with help from President Trump will be the first of many to come in the Mideast region.
Dermer said on "The Mark Levin Show on Westwood One" that Trump's team was integral in reaching normalization with the Emiratis, and that it is also unprecedented because there was no cession of land involved.
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Dermer said that when Egypt became the first Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel decades ago, the Israelis agreed to cede the Sinai peninsula to Cairo's government. He noted that landmass is thrice the size of the modern-day Jewish state.
When normalization was reached with Jordan, it came after the 1990s Oslo agreement, he said, which led to "dangerous" concessions.
"It's a great day for Israel -- a great day for peace," he told Levin.
"What's different about this one is the previous peace agreements required some pretty major concession from Israel ... Instead of doing 'land for peace', we're doing 'peace for peace.'"
Dermer added that one of the main reasons he believes more Arab countries will commence negotiations with Israel in this way is because this particular agreement proved the Palestinians don't necessarily need to be involved to make a deal.
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"I think you're going to see more days like this in the weeks and months ahead ... I think a lot of people believe that the road to peace with the Arab States must go through Ramallah," he said. Dermer added, however, that any peace deal with the Palestinians must involve Ramallah.
"[Normalization] goes through Cairo, it goes thru Amman and now it's gone thru Abu Dhabi," he continued. "If we had a Palestinian partner who wanted to make peace, we would've made peace a century ago."
"Because of the leadership of Donald Trump, ... we have this historic breakthrough where Israel is not making these concessions."
He added that the UAE is a key nation in the region and the new relationship will be mutually beneficial. He described Israel as second only to California in technological innovation, and the UAE a prosperous nation with a big technology and innovation sector.
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"The Emirates is a very serious Arab country," he said. "The relationship between Israel and the UAE is really going to foster prosperity throughout the region. I hope and expect that other dominoes will fall. And I think ultimately I think that will open up the door to peace with the Palestinians as well."
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