Joe Biden. Credit: White House, public domain
US president Joe Biden has expressed his support for the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Arab countries and Israel that has developed out of last year’s Abraham Accords.
In a phone call with the UAE’s crown prince Mohamad bin Zayed Al Nahyen on Tuesday, Biden “underlined the strategic importance of the normalisation of relations between the UAE and Israel”, according to the readout. He also expressed “full support for strengthening and expanding these arrangements”.
Biden and the crown prince discussed several regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, the threat posed by Iran, and “the common quest for de-escalation and peace in the Middle East”.
Since August 2020, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco have all normalised relations with Israel after decades of boycotts and diplomatic hostility.
Biden similarly spoke with Mossad chief Yossi Cohen on Sunday, where he reportedly said that the US was not yet close to returning to the Iran nuclear deal.
According to reports, Cohen told Biden that it would be a mistake for the US to return to the deal without improving it. Biden reportedly reassured Cohen that the US had a long way to go before agreeing to a full return to the 2015 agreement.