Israeli, UAE, Bahraini ambassadors – and two Knesset members – to host event to celebrate one-year anniversary of Abraham Accords, discuss next steps

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, the Abraham Accords Peace Institute will hold its first formal event to both celebrate the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords and to discuss where we go from here.

The Institute was founded in the spring and will serve as a non-partisan organization to build on and expand the trade, tourism and economic growth impact of the Accords, and to encourage other countries to join the Accords.

It is the brainchild of Jared Kushner, who served as the chief architect of President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace strategy, and Avi Berkowitz, who served at Kushner’s side as a key White House advisor on the initiative.

The executive director of the Institute is Rob Greenway, who served on the National Security Council staff during the Trump administration, overseeing Middle East and North Africa matters.

The event – “One Year Later: The Abraham Accords and The Future of Peace” – will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown.

Speaking on the morning panel with be the ambassadors from the three signatory nations – Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan, United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba and Bahraini Ambassador Sheikh Abdulla bin Rashid al-Khalifa.

Greenway will moderate the panel.

A source involved in organizing the event tells ALL ISRAEL NEWS that “a senior State Department official” will be participating in the event.

So will Egypt’s ambassador to the U.S., and a representative from the Jordanian Embassy.

Several members of Congress will also be attending.

Also speaking during the morning sessions will be two Israeli Knesset members who co-chair the Abraham Accords Caucus.

Knesset Member Ofir Akunis is a member of the Likud Party and served as minister of Regional Cooperation during former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Knesset Member Ruth Wasserman Lande, a former advisor to Shimon Peres, is a member of the Blue and White Party, led by Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

She also serves on the ALL ISRAEL NEWS advisory board.

“It is an honor for me to land in the U.S. to speak at the Abraham Accords Institute for Peace in D.C. as co-chair of the Parliamentary Caucus for Promoting the Abraham Accords,” she texted me this morning, en route to Washington.

She added that she is optimistic that her work with Akunis and other Knesset members, and with American lawmakers and policy makers, can build on the initial success of the Abraham Accords to advance peace in other areas.

“I believe that this game-changing platform is conducive to finding creative solutions to [other] longterm complex regional challenges,” she said.

Among the issues she is determined to focus on: “Iran striving to become a nuclear power, the Egyptian-Ethiopian water challenge, global terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and more.”