So is it historic? At the same White House that hosted Israel's 1978 peace deal with Egypt and the 1993 Oslo accords with the Palestinians, now comes the normalisation of ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrein, with both foreign ministers in attendance. Relations between Israel and the Gulf monarchies warmed a long time ago. Why come clean now?
The list of possible reasons runs long. There's the common foe of Iran, plus compassion fatigue surrounding the Palestinian cause. Could the US president be calling favours ahead of Election Day? Is it all happening with Saudi Arabia's blessing, or did the UAE catch Riyadh by surprise by being first?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
