Today, the leadership of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (“Orthodox Union”)—the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization— issued the following statement welcoming President Trump’s announcement of an agreement between the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain to establish full diplomatic relations:

“The Orthodox Union welcomes President Trump’s historic announcement to establish full normalization of relations between the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain. This comes just weeks after the United States brokered a similar breakthrough agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

“We applaud President Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for working together to bring about the historic “Declaration of Peace” and embarking on an important new era for Israel and Bahrain. We are hopeful that this accord, together with the agreement announced on Aug. 13 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, will herald a future of peace, prosperity, strength and security both for Israel and her Arab neighbors.

“The Orthodox Union expresses its appreciation to President Trump and his key aides—including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin; Ambassador David Friedman; Assistant to the President Jared Kushner; National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien; U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook; Assistant to the President Avi Berkowitz; National Security Council Middle East Director General Miguel Correa; and Executive Chairman of the Prosper Africa Initiative Adam Boehler — for their steadfast leadership to bring this landmark agreement to fruition.”

Read the OU’s statement on the Israel-UAE agreement here