Bahrain and Oman might be the next Arab countries to join the United Arab Emirates in normalizing ties with Israel, Israel’s intelligence minister said on Sunday.
“In the wake of this agreement (with the UAE) additional agreements will be forthcoming, with both more Gulf countries and with Muslim countries in Africa,” Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told Army Radio.
“I believe that Bahrain and Oman are definitely on the agenda. Plus, according to my assessment, there is a chance that in the coming year already, there will be a peace accord with more countries in Africa, most prominently, Sudan,” he added.
Both Bahrain and Oman lauded the UAE-Israel deal, however neither have commented on their own expectations regarding normalization with Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with both Sudanese and Omani leaders in the past.
A senior White House official said on Friday that Washington has been in contact with “numerous” countries in the region, in an attempt to see if more deals would come to fruition.
However, the official declined to name which states but did say that they were Arab and Muslim nations in the Middle East and Africa.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates reached a peace agreement on Thursday to begin the process of normalizing relations between the two Middle Eastern countries, in part brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.