After Israel-UAE Deal, Kushner Indicates More Arab Countries will Follow

• 08.14.2020, 11:20
•  America,  Near East,  World

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US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said Thursday that more Arab countries may soon announce normalized ties with Israel, following an American-brokered agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Times of Israel reports.

“We hope this is an icebreaker where Israel can now normalize relations with other countries,” Kushner said at a press briefing shortly after Trump announced the pact, adding that he thought there was a “very good chance” of another Israeli-Arab deal within months.

Kushner said that the administration had also been in talks with other Arab states to normalize ties with Israel. He suggested that more announcements will come over the next 90 days.

“We have a couple who were upset that they weren’t first,” Kushner said. “But … we will work very hard to create more and more normalizations over the coming time ahead.”

“I do think that this makes them more inevitable,” he continued. “But it will take trust being built and dialogue being facilitated. Hopefully, this makes it easier for others.”

At one point, he was asked which other countries were in the mix. “Who is next?” Kushner asked back. “You will find out next.”