Israel to ratify Bahrain normalization as Pompeo heads to Middle East

 The government plans to ratify Israel’s normalization deal with Bahrain on Sunday as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to the Middle East for what is likely to be his final trip to the Middle East before the end of the Trump administration.

During Pompeo’s trip, which began Saturday with a stop in France and ends on the 23rd, Pompeo is  scheduled to travel to the UAE to meet with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayd. He will stop in Qatar to speak with its Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Then he will continue onto to Saudi Arabia to visit Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He will also visit Turkey and Georgia.

While in Israel later this week, Pompeo will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is likely to discuss Iran, China and the Abraham Accords.

State Department officials told reporters in Washington that “regardless of what happens in these elections, the administration is here guaranteed through January 20” and that it plans to be active in these coming months including on the subject of normalization deals with Israel and Iran. The normalization deals play a double role of both strengthening Israel’s role in the region and cementing an alliance of moderate regional nations against Iran.

“Iran’s destabilizing actions around the region put our partners at risk, especially in the Gulf at risk… So Iran is certainly an issue that looms large in our discussions with and our representations with our Gulf partners,” a State Department official said.

The official spoke about steps the US is taking to help the UAE in particular counter the threat from Iran, including the sale of advanced weaponry.

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“The UAE is an important friend and partner, we will do everything we can to help it counter the Iranian regime. This includes the proposed sale of $23 billion worth of F-35 aircraft, MQ-9B unmanned aerial systems, and air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions under the FMS system that the secretary directed the department to notify to Congress on November 10,” that official stated.

That enhanced US-UAE defense cooperation, the State Department official said, and is akin to the relationship that developed between the US, Egypt and Jordan, in the aftermath of their peace deals with Israel in 1979 and 1994.

While in the UAE, Pompeo will discuss the new Abraham Fund, through which Israeli-UAE business and financial ties will be developed, the official said. The “accords represent a historic breakthrough, and we believe more Arab and Muslim-majority countries will soon follow down this path of peace,” the official added.

The official did not respond to questions about a possible Pompeo visit to the Psagot winery in the Binyamin region of the West Bank and the Golan Heights.