UAE official on peace with Israel: Getting to 'yes' was quick, easy

He said that annexation is what made the country come to the decision to make peace with Israel at the time that it did.

By Seth J. Frantzman / November 12, 2020

United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba spoke with the Institute for National Security Studies on Wednesday and provided a unique insight into Abu Dhabi’s view of its goals in the Abraham Accords. He has been an outspoken proponent of peace and earlier this year published an opinion piece in the Israeli press that was a precursor to the deal.

“The annexation is what made us reach this decision in the way we did and the time we did [it],” Otaiba told the INSS, which is affiliated with Tel Aviv University. “I believe that annexation was going to have a profoundly negative impact in our part of the world.”

By presenting the deal as a way to achieve a win-win solution, preventing Israel from annexing parts of the West Bank in July and Israel getting normalization in return, it was in the interest of peace, he said.

“Annexation was going to cause a very negative reaction to Israel, put Jordan under pressure and force the US to defend what is a very unpopular decision in the region,” Otaiba said. “It was going to risk all the progress that we have been making in terms of opening up with Israel.”

His conversation with INSS executive director Amos Yadlin was posted on the organization’s Twitter account.

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For full article: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/uae-ambassador-to-us-annexation-brought-us-to-the- negotiating-table-648911