Netanyahu Has 'Outstanding Conversation' With Bahraini Crown Prince Over Phone

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked to Bahraini Crown Prince Salman Hamad bin Khalifa on the phone on Tuesday. 

Netanyahu took to Twitter to summarize their "outstanding conversation," saying they discussed how they were "pouring content into the agreements between Bahrain and Israel, turning this peace into economic peace, technological peace, tourist peace."

"You will hear about practical steps very soon!" the prime minister promised his followers. 

On September 15, Bahrain joined a U.S.-brokered peace accord between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. The agreement, dubbed the Abraham Accords by a Trump administration in campaigning mode, contained three different declarations. 

The declaration of peace between Bahrain and Israel, signed by Netanyahu and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, seeks to "establish full diplomatic relations, to promote lasting security, to eschew threats and the use of force, as well as advance coexistence and a culture of peace."

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Celebrated in Israel and the United States, the agreement has been harshly criticized by the Palestinians, who see it as a major blow to their attempts at statehood. Although the populations of the UAE and Bahrain are small, relations with Israel could open economic advantages in trade for both countries, as well as access to U.S. arms sales for the Gulf states. 

More importantly, these agreements destroy a previously unbroken promise by Arab states that they would only recognize Israel in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Palestinians fear that this could pave the way for more states to do so.