The White House is now dismissing President Trump's Abraham Accords between Arab states and Israel - after candidate Joseph R. Biden in 2020 effusively praised the deals and took credit for laying the diplomatic groundwork.
The normalization pacts between Israel and a number of Arab states were at the heart of the Trump administration's Middle East strategy, easing Israel's economic and diplomatic isolation and building up a regional coalition of allies to confront Iran and its proxies.
Over the weekend, Hamas terror leader Ismail Haniyeh declared victory after Hamas fired over 4,000 missiles into Israel and the Jewish state retaliated with airstrikes.
Instead of waiting for Palestinians to recognize Israel - a prospect that has lingered unfulfilled for decades - the Trump team decoupled those talks from brokering individual deals between Israel and Arab states.
"We will continue to urge more countries to normalize relations with Israel, and will look for other opportunities to expand cooperation among countries in the region. As a result, I expect Israel's group of friends to grow even wider in the year ahead." The State Department said Monday Mr. Blinken was embarking this week on a hastily arranged tour of the region this week, with an agenda that included bolstering the recent cease-fire, resuming humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and laying the groundwork for an eventual resumption in long-stalled peace talks.
Mr. Blinken's itinerary includes talks with leaders in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt, the Associated Press reported.
After the UAE deal, and a similar deal with Bahrain, two other Arab states, Sudan and Morocco, normalized relations with Israel.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/may/24/biden-team-reverses-support-abraham-accords/
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