10 things you need to know today: September 16, 2020

Israel, Bahrain, UAE sign diplomatic pacts, Hurricane Sally threatens historic flooding, and more

Trump, Netanyahu, Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

1. Israel signs diplomatic pacts with UAE, Bahrain

Israel on Tuesday signed diplomatic pacts normalizing relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at a White House ceremony. President Trump, portraying himself as a peacemaker, declared the agreements to be historic. "After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East," Trump said. The deal came after Israel's relations with the two Arab nations had already begun to thaw as they focused on their common enemy, Iran. Palestinians slammed the agreements as betrayals by fellow Arabs. The foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain noted that Israel had agreed to suspend plans to annex West Bank settlements, and said the agreements to exchange diplomats and cooperate on education, trade, security, and other issues would be helpful toward creating a Palestinian state.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.