On 15 September 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House, Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani signed the official Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations, with President Donald J. Trump as witness and host. King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa and the Israeli prime minister had agreed to open an era of friendship and cooperation. The text is in English.

They affirm full diplomatic relations, lasting security, the rejection of threats and the use of force, coexistence and a culture of peace. They recognise each state’s right to sovereignty and to live in peace and security. They state that they will continue efforts to achieve a just, comprehensive and enduring resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the coming weeks Bahrain and Israel are to seek agreements on investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment and other areas of mutual benefit, and on the reciprocal opening of embassies. The declaration sets no deadlines, sums or embassy sites.

The political announcement had come on 11 September. On 13 August the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates had issued the joint statement that gave the Abraham Accords their name. Bahrain is the fourth Arab state to recognise Israel, after Egypt in 1979, Jordan in 1994 and the UAE in August. A further declaration of 18 October, filed at the United Nations, provides that relations will be conducted under the Charter of the United Nations; it is not the text signed in Washington.

This is not the Israel–UAE treaty signed at the same ceremony, not Camp David of 1978, not the Egyptian peace of 26 March 1979, not the 1994 treaty with Jordan and not the later Sudan and Morocco accords. The four-signature Abraham Accords Declaration (Netanyahu, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Trump, Al Zayani) is a separate document from the same day.

The Abraham Accords signing on the South Lawn of the White House. Photograph: The White House, Washington, public domain.

For context: Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement. The official text: Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations.