Written by Madhav Bahl, a grade 8 student

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have been nominated for the next year’s Nobel Peace Prize

What have they done to get nominated for this Prize?

They have made the ties between the UAE and Israel better (Abu Dhabi is the capital of UAE) -. On 15th September Donald Trump, President of the U.S.A presided over the signing ceremony at the White House for establishing the foundation of the peace agreements among Bahrain, Israel, and the UAE. This was seen as a landmark agreement that would help bring peace to the region.

The nomination of the Nobel Peace Prize was made by Lord Trimble, the former First Minister of Northern Ireland, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland. 

Since Lord Trimble himself is the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, it gives him the privilege of nominating others. This deal has enabled the UAE and Bahrain to have full relations with Israel, along with Jordan and Egypt. 

Israel signed separate agreements with each of the Gulf countries – that is the UAE and Bahrain. They all also signed a common agreement called the Abraham Accords. This was described by the White House as a “declaration of peace”.

Why is this deal so important?

It’s a little complicated – but the main point is that Israel and Palestinians have been fighting over land for many decades. Israel needed friends in the region – so getting good relations with the UAE and Bahrain was really needed.  

They hope that this will make the Arabs (the Palestinians) accept the Israelis as part of the area (right now they don’t). Also, in return for a normalisation with the UAE, Prime Minister Netanyahu has agreed not to annex parts of the occupied West Bank (this is an important step in building peace in the region).

Who is not happy?

The Palestinians and the Iranians.

The former because they have been fighting with Israel forever. And the latter (Iranians) because this has made the idea of openly air striking the nuclear sites of Iran a lot easier as Israel’s home airbases are a long flight from Iran whereas the UAE airbases are just across the waters of the Gulf.

Even though only the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and Israeli Prime minister are being nominated the Bahrain crown prince Salman al-Khalifa should also be named as he sorted relations with Israel. This is one of the most important deals in the history of the middle east.

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