Sputnik News Agency

The UAE and Bahrain have become the third and fourth Arab nations to reconcile with Israel: on 13 August, Abu Dhabi confirmed its willingness to normalise relations with the Jewish state, while on 11 September, Manama jumped on the bandwagon. International observers have discussed how the agreements may affect the balance of power in the region.

On Tuesday, two Gulf monarchies, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, are due to sign the Abraham Accord, a formal peace treaty with Israel, at the White House. US President Donald Trump, who brokered the deal, will preside over the signing ceremony.

Abraham Accord Presents a New Alternative for the Region

“The agreement is very significant”, says Dr Nir Boms, a research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Centre at Tel Aviv University. “I think it will be deeper than the previous agreements in comparison with what we have with Egypt or Jordan. It will be deeper because it’s not just a political agreement – it’s an agreement that has a very strong civic component to it”.

Boms highlights that the groundwork for the peace accords with the two Gulf monarchies was laid over recent years:  “The normalization that is now attributed to Abraham has always existed: over 5,000 Israel companies have already been operating in the Gulf”, he says.