Today we usher in a new era of peace between Israel and the Arab world. I just came from an historic virtual conference between myself, President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates.

We announced the establishment of a full and formal peace between Israel and the UAE. It includes the mutual opening of embassies, direct flights and many, many other bilateral agreements.

This is the greatest advancement toward peace between Israel and the Arab world in the last 26 years and it marks the third formal peace between Israel and an Arab nation.

In 1979, Prime Minister Menachem Begin made peace with Egypt. In 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a peace treaty with Jordan. And today, I am honored to announce a formal peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

I believe that there is a good chance that we will soon see more Arab countries join this expanding circle of peace.

I want to thank President Trump for his critical help in brokering this historic accord. And I want to thank him for his revolutionary Vision for Peace, which is the most realistic and important formula for peace in the region.

President Trump’s Middle East plan served as a basis for today’s historic peace announcement. Israel and the UAE are two of the most advanced countries in the world.

Together, we will transform the region and forge an even better future for our people. This is a future of peace, a future of security and a future of prosperity.

I've always believed that we could establish peace with the Arab world and I have been working towards that lofty goal for decades. You may not know it, but I've been doing it all the time in meetings that are publicized and in many that are not.

In recent years, Israel under my leadership has made advancements in ties with such countries as Sudan, Oman, Bahrain and other nations in the Gulf.