[21][22] Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, reported at the end of June 2020 that the two countries were in cooperation to fight the coronavirus and that the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, had traveled numerous times to the UAE.

Currently, Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in backing different factions in proxy wars from Syria to Yemen, with the UAE supporting the Saudi-led and US-sponsored coalition against the Iran-aligned forces.

[24][25] In recent years, the countries' informal relations warmed considerably and they engaged in extensive unofficial cooperation based on their joint opposition to Iran's nuclear program and regional influence.

In 2019, the Trump administration reversed decades of American policy by declaring that the West Bank settlements did not violate international law, a decision that threatened the two-state solution that had long been seen as the key to lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Trump administration's Middle East policy, crafted by presidential senior advisor Jared Kushner and released in January 2020, approved Netanyahu's plan to annex existing settlements.

After Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States, wrote a June 2020 opinion piece warning that annexation would threaten better relations between Israel and the Arab world, Kushner saw an opportunity and stepped in to facilitate talks.

After negotiators had reached an agreement, President Donald Trump, Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed held a conference call immediately prior to a formal announcement.

[34] Gantz thanked Trump, Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for making the peace deal happen, saying it showed an alliance between Middle Eastern nations that wanted stability and mutual cooperation.

[37] Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality Mayor Ron Huldai, congratulated Netanyahu on the "double achievement" of peace with the UAE and shelving of plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

[39] The head of the Israeli settler group Yesha Council, David Elhayani [he], accused Netanyahu of "betraying" some of his most loyal supporters and having "deceived half a million residents of the area and hundreds of thousands of voters".

[42] Jared Kushner, the primary Trump administration official involved in negotiating the agreement, stated while speaking to CBS News that the deal would make the Middle East more peaceful and hopeful, which would mean fewer American troops would need to be deployed in the region.

[46] Yousef Al Otaiba, the Emirati ambassador to the United States, issued a statement on August 13 extolling the agreement as "a win for diplomacy and for the region", adding how it "lowers tensions and creates new energy for positive change".

[55] In Bahrain, which was the first Gulf Arab country to comment publicly in support of the deal as a step toward peace,[38] fear of government crackdown prevented activists from voicing their criticism.

[70] The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the deal as a "dangerous" stab in the back of Palestinians and Muslims, terming it a "shameful" act of "strategic stupidity" by the UAE and Israel that would only serve to strengthen the "Axis of Resistance" in the Middle East.

[73] The UAE's Foreign Ministry summoned Iran's chargé d'affaires on August 16 and criticized Rouhani's speech as "unacceptable and inflammatory" which could impact the security scenario of the Gulf.

[80] President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan later stated that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the UAE in retaliation, as well as recalling its ambassador from Abu Dhabi.

[83] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs cautiously reacted and in a press statement termed the Israel–UAE deal is having "far-reaching implications, and that Pakistan's approach will be guided by our evaluation of how Palestinians' rights and aspirations are upheld and how regional peace, security and stability are preserved".

[87] Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the agreement should be followed up by Israel abandoning any plan to annex parts of the West Bank and if the deal could lead to its withdrawal from Palestinian territories, it would move the Middle East closer to peace.

[94] Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam said the deal was a provocation against Arab and Islamic nations, and it also showed that countries like the UAE involved in the Yemeni Civil War were trying to fulfil Israel's agenda.

[98] Bouthaina Shaaban, political and media advisor to the Syrian President, criticized the deal in her comments that appeared in Al-Watan newspaper, saying secret relations between the UAE and Israel existed for decades but now they revealed it publicly.

She stated that there was nothing new in the deal and regretted that the Gulf nations were hostile to Iran, but want peace with Israel that detests the history of Arabs and forcibly takes Palestinian land.

[106][107] British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lauded the agreement as a pathway to achieving peace in the Middle East and also praised suspension of annexation of areas in the West Bank.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab voiced similar sentiments, adding that it was time for direct dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, while the latter stated that it created an opportunity for resuming the talks.

[34] Belgium's foreign minister Philippe Goffin said he welcomed the deal as a step toward a peaceful Middle East and added that the suspension of annexation plans must be followed up with the two-state solution.

[113] Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide hailed the deal as a positive development and said Norway welcomed any move that led toward peace in the Middle East.

[121] The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it stressed that as a member of the United Nations Security Council and the Quartet on the Middle East, it supported the two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

[127] China stated that it was pleased with attempts to decrease hostilities in the Middle East through the deal and hoped it would restart the Israeli–Palestinian dialogue, adding that it will continue to support the Palestinian people.

Nevertheless, secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, "The goal all our Arab countries seek, without exception, is to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital."

[34] Lisa Goldman, co-founder of +972 Magazine, stated that Netanyahu "never intended to annex" parts of the West Bank, but the UAE is "claiming a diplomatic victory in exchange for what's probably a lot of very valuable security cooperation from Israel.

[168] On August 16, 2020, the Financial Times editorial board wrote that the accord, rather than delivering peace, is likely to exacerbate Palestinians' sense of hopelessness and produce more problems in the future as the Israeli and US governments have "shown no interest in a fair resolution of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict".