"I hold in my hand the historic draft peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and the historic declaration of peace between Israel and Bahrain. We have worked on this for very many years. This moment arrives tomorrow," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday from Washington a day before Israel makes its first open peace with two Arab countries.
"This is a great turning point in the history of Israel and in the history of the Middle East. It will have a great and positive effect on every citizen of Israel. I also promise you, according to what I see here, that additional countries are on the way," Netanyahu added.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The prime minister said that even as he was involved in this "important diplomatic work," he was keeping in mind that "these are difficult days for us all" and he had spoken with Finance Minister Israel Katz and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein.
"We will continue to work together for you, citizens of Israel, so that we might overcome the coronavirus and also bring peace," the prime minister said.
Earlier Monday, a member of the prime minister's entourage touched on the fact that the details of the agreement had yet to be made public, saying, "There is a great deal of sensitivity surrounding the ceremony and the details of the agreements that will be signed [Tuesday] at the White House, so at this stage, we cannot volunteer information."
The official did say that the deals Israel is about to sign with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain would be significantly different.
"With the Emirates, Israel will sign a peace agreement, as well as the detailed declaration of peace that was announced a month ago. With Bahrain, a 'declaration of peace' will be signed, because the announcement was made only a few days ago," he explained.
Another high-ranking Israeli official added that because normalization was a "complicated" process involving four countries, the details had not yet been finalized, even with only 24 hours left.
"We have never seen two states sign a peace deal with Israel at the same time. It's exciting for them and for us. But because we're talking about four sides, it is highly sensitive and the details still haven't been made public," the official said, pointing out that it is not unusual for the details of peace agreements to be published only after the deal is inked.
Officials who travelled to Washington with Netanyahu denied on Monday claims by Meretz chairman Nitzan Horowitz that Israel had promised to freeze settlement construction as one of the terms of the deals with Bahrain and the UAE.
Horowitz tweeted on Monday: "Not only the deal for [F35] planes and a cancellation of the annexation. In the deal with the Gulf states, Netanyahu has also agreed to freeze settlement construction."
According to Horowitz, no matter how much Netanyahu might "deny the cancellation of annexation and the plane scandal, calling it 'peace for peace,' that is the agreement given to the Americans and the Gulf states. Which proves how critical the Palestinian issue is to any diplomatic progress."
One of the officials in Washington with Netanyahu said, "As a politician, Horowitz has even worse sources than he had as a journalist."
According to the current schedule for Tuesday's historic peace signing, Netanyahu is due to arrive at the White House at 11:15 a.m. EST (6:15 p.m. Israel time). He will meet US President Donald Trump at 11:20 a.m. (6:20 p.m. Israel time). The deals will be inked at 12 p.m. EST (7 p.m. in Israel), to be followed by joint statements.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
