President Donald Trump handed out national security awards Wednesday to several top advisers for his role in helping broker agreements aimed at normalizing relations between Israel and four countries in the Arab world.
Trump presented National Security Medal to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Finance Secretary Steven Mnuchin, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, senior adviser Jared Kushner, Middle East ambassador Avi Berkowitz, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and John Rakolta , US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo out with Prime Minister Netanyahu during a visit to Jerusalem in November
(Photo: AFP)
“Thanks to the efforts of these people, the region will never be as it will eventually move beyond the conflicts of the past,” the White House said in a statement.
In the last four months, Israel has reached agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco as part of what the United States calls “the Abraham Accords.
Peace treaties between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain were signed in Washington in September
(Photo: GPO)
“U.S. senior officials hope to seal one more agreement before Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20. The president’s authority is to issue National Security Medal medals until 1953, under a regulatory order that allows with recognition for major contributions in the field of national security.