In Israel, Kushner says stage is defined for Mideast progress

White House adviser Jared Kushner on Sunday trumpeted the recent agreement by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to determine diplomatic relations as a historic breakthrough and said “the stage is currently set” for other Arab states to follow suit, but he gave no indication that any new deals were imminent.

Appearing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, Kushner spoke a day before he is to join a senior Israeli delegation on the first commercial flight from Israel to the UAE. The flight holds great symbolic value and is a key step in what is likely to be full normalization between Israel and the UAE.

The Aug 13 announcement makes the UAE just the third Arab country to determine full diplomatic relations with Israel, and the first ever to do so in over 25 years. It reflects a shifting Middle East where shared concerns over Iran have overtaken traditional wall-to-wall Arab support for the Palestinians.

“Today obviously we celebrate a historic breakthrough for peace,” Kushner said, adding that the deal will generate “previously unthinkable” economic, security and religious cooperation.

“While this peace agreement was thought by many to be impossible, the stage is now set for even more," he said, claiming he has heard optimism through the entire region since the deal was announced.

“We should seize that optimism and we must continue to push to make this region achieve the potential that it truly has," said Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and chief Mideast adviser.

Israel and the UAE have moved quickly to cement their ties in the last fourteen days. Almost immediately, they opened direct phone lines, and Cabinet ministers have held friendly phone conversations.

On Saturday, the UAE formally ended its commercial boycott of Israel, although both countries have quietly conducted business for a long time. Monday's flight of an El Al plane from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi will be the first known flight of an Israeli commercial airliner from Israel to the Emirates. The two Mideast countries are anticipated to sign a formal agreement at the White House in the coming weeks.

But up to now, predictions by Israeli and American officials, including Kushner, that other Arab countries would follow the UAE have not yet materialized.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured the spot the other day, stopping in Sudan, Bahrain and Oman - three countries widely viewed as candidates to determine ties with Israel - but seemed to leave empty-handed.

The flurry of U.S. diplomatic activity comes as the Trump administration presses ahead with ambitious plans to market Arab-Israeli rapprochement even in the lack of a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which had always been regarded as a prerequisite for Israel to attain peace deals with all of its Arab neighbors.

The UAE deal gave the Trump administration a welcome foreign-policy victory before November's presidential election. Facing a tough reelection battle, the White House is eager to build on that momentum.

Gulf Arab countries, which like Israel share deep animosity toward Iran, have shown an increasing willingness to make back-channel ties with Israel public.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement with the UAE would bring “unbridled” trade and opportunities.

“You will see the way the sparks fly,” he said.

Trump unveiled a Mideast plan in January that is rejected by the Palestinians, who say it unfairly favors Israel.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip - areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war - for an unbiased state. The Trump plan offers them limited autonomy in 70% of the West Bank, leaving Israel in overall control of the territory, and a symbolic occurrence on the outskirts of Jerusalem, while handing Israel control of the city’s sensitive holy sites.

Netanyahu said the manage the UAE proves the Palestinians no longer have a “veto” over regional peace. The Palestinians have accused the UAE of treason.

“If we must wait for the Palestinians, we must wait forever," Netanyahu said. "As more Arab and Muslim countries join the circle of peace, the Palestinians will eventually understand their veto has dissipated and they'll be hard pressed to stay beyond your community of peace.”