Israeli minister sees another ME deal before US election

JERUSALEM: An Israeli official predicted on Wednesday that the United States would announce another deal establishing ties between Israel and an Arab or Muslim country before the US election.

“I have a reasonable basis to believe that the announcement will come before Nov. 3 - that, if you’ll permit me, is what I understand from my sources,” Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis told Israel’s Army Radio.

In a foreign-policy flourish ahead of his reelection bid, top aides to President Donald Trump this week escorted Israeli delegates to Bahrain and UAE delegates to Israel, cementing Israel’s new, U.S.-brokered relations with the Gulf states.

Trump signalled on Monday that Washington would remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, stirring speculation that it could be the next Arab country to move closer to Israel. Akunis said several countries were candidates to normalise relations with Israel. He did not name these, saying that it was “customary” to let the first official word come from Washington.