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Former Lawmaker Looks Forward to Historic Israel Peace Signings at White House

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Former Lawmaker Looks Forward to Historic Israel Peace Signings at White House

A former Democratic New York lawmaker said he’s looking forward to watching in person as the historic peace accords are signed at the White House on Tuesday.

“It is a great moment to be part of this event at the White House,” Dov Hikind, a former assemblyman, told NTD News, a sister media to The Epoch Times, before flying to Washington.

“All of my life, you know, everyone has talked about peace in the Middle East, trying to bring nations in the Middle East closer together. And finally, some real concrete things are happening,” he added.

Normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Israel and Bahrain, are being signed at the White House around noon.

The impact of the deals have already been dramatic. Direct flights from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi started last month. And the two countries immediately began cooperating on work on a CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine.

Hikind said he knows Israelis who are in the UAE right now, staying in hotels that are serving Kosher food.

Former Lawmaker Looks Forward to Historic Israel Peace Signings at White House President Donald Trump greets the Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa at the White House in Washington, Sept. 15, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

“This is huge, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “And I’m very, very excited to be at the White House” to take part in “a truly historic event.”

“This is real history being made by Donald Trump by his administration, and all the other people that were involved in bringing this together,” he added.

Asked to expand on the why the deals are so large, Hikind noted that the countries previously had no trade or cultural exchange, or other relations, with Israel.

“And suddenly, you have a breakthrough with the United Arab Emirates, and now with another nation, and Saudi Arabia has given the okay for Israeli planes to fly to fly over its territory—this is what everybody waits for,” he said.

“That’s why there’s a Nobel Prize for someone who makes peace in the world.  because it is recognized as one of the great things you can accomplish, when you, when you bring nations together, you set an example. And you hope that others will follow as well.”

Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Israel-UAE deal.

Everyone will benefit from normalization between Israel and other countries, Hikind said.

He also said the deals were one of many things Trump has accomplished in his first term, and highlighted Trump’s position on Israel.

Former Lawmaker Looks Forward to Historic Israel Peace Signings at White House A man rides a scooter near the flags of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Bahrain as they flutter along a road in Netanya, Israel on Sept. 14, 2020. (Nir Elias/Reuters)

“There’s never been a president of the United States that is showing more friendship to the people of Israel,” Hikind said.

“That has been a great friend of the people. Israel and the people of Israel know this, whether you’re on the left, center, right, they appreciate that Donald Trump has been a great friend.”

In contrast, he believes the Democratic Party does not deserve the support of Jewish people. He pointed to the praise Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), heaped on Jacob Blake’s family after meeting with them, and wondered about the alleged anti-Semitic positions of Blake’s father, including support of known anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.

“The Democratic Party thinks these are our new heroes. Am I living in this world? Or am I living on the moon?” he wondered.

The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee didn’t respond to requests for comment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week called Trump’s successes in the Middle East “a distraction,” arguing the lack of an agreement between Israel and Palestine signaled failure.

“We’ve been waiting for a very long time for the president’s proposal for an Israeli–Palestinian peace agreement that honored the two-state solution. It was coming in two weeks, it was coming in two months, it was coming in six months—it still hasn’t come in any way that has brought peace,” she said.

“So, good for him for having a distraction on a day when the numbers of people who are affected and the numbers of people who are dying from this virus only increases.”

Miguel Moreno contributed to the report.

Follow Zachary on Twitter: @zackstieber

Focus News: Former Lawmaker Looks Forward to Historic Israel Peace Signings at White House

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