Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the accord represented a “historic day” as he welcomed a “new era” in his country’s relations with the Arab world.

US President Donald Trump said he would host the Israeli and UAE leaders at the White House for the signing of the peace deal in around three weeks.

“I look forward to hosting them at the White House very soon to formally sign the agreement,” he said at media briefing on Thursday.

“We’ll probably be doing it over the next, I would say, three weeks.”

Netanyahu had committed to the annexation of the land sought by the Palestinians but Trump asked him to put those plans on hold, the Israeli PM said. Netanyahu noted the annexation may still go ahead someday but only in cooperation with Washington. The Israeli leader stated: “There is no change to my plan to extend sovereignty, our sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, in full coordination with the United Arab.

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi took to social media to confirm the arrangement. “During a call with President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, an agreement was reached to stop further Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan wrote on his verified Twitter account. “The UAE and Israel also agreed to cooperation and setting a roadmap towards establishing a bilateral relationship.”

The landmark deal, once signed, would make the UAE only the third nation in the Arab world, along with Egypt and Jordan, to have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Trump delivered a statement from the Oval Office in which he said: “After 49 years, Israel and the United Arab Emirates will fully normalize their diplomatic relations. Now that the ice has been broken I expect more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the United Arab Emirates.”

Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador in Washington, described the accord as a “great day for peace,” before adding, “Israel deeply appreciates all President Trump has done to make this breakthrough possible.”

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“China is in the middle of a significant modernisation of its nuclear arsenal. It is developing a so-called nuclear triad for the first time, made up of new land- and sea-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft,” the report warned.

“India and Pakistan are slowly increasing the size and diversity of their nuclear forces, while North Korea continues to prioritise its military nuclear programme as a central element of its national security strategy,” it said.

In its 2019 report, SIPRI had said that China’s nuclear arsenal contained 290 warheads while India’s had 130-140. Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was calculated at 150-160, a number which remains the same in this year’s assessment.

According to the report, Russia tops the table with 6,375 warheads, followed by the US with 5,800, and the UK with 215 warheads. The figures have been updated till January 2020.

The nuclear arsenals of the other nuclear-armed states are considerably smaller but all these states are either developing or deploying new weapon systems or have announced their intention to do so, the report said.

“The nine nuclear-armed states – the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea – together possessed an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons at the start of 2020. This marked a decrease from the 13,865 nuclear weapons that SIPRI estimated these states possessed at the beginning of 2019,” the report said.

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Bennett visited the labs of the Israel’s Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), supervised by the Prime Minister’s Office and mandated to develop a vaccine for coronavirus, in Ness Ziona on Monday and was shown the “antibody that attacks the virus in a monoclonal way and can neutralize it within the bodies of those ill”, a statement from his office said.

The statement said that the antibody’s development had been completed and that the institute was in the process of patenting the find “and in the next stage, researchers will approach international companies to produce the antibody on a commercial scale”.

“I am proud of the institute staff for this terrific breakthrough,” Bennett said, adding that “their creativity and the Jewish mind brought about this amazing achievement”.

In March, Israeli daily Ha’aretz, quoting medical sources, had reported that scientists at the institute had made a significant breakthrough in understanding the biological mechanism and qualities of the virus, including better diagnostic capability, production of antibodies for those who already have the virus and development of a vaccine.

It was not immediately clear if the breakthrough presented to Bennett was in addition to progress that was reported in late March, and no further details were provided.

The statement also did not specify whether human trials were conducted.

The IIBR was established in 1952 as part of the Israel Defence Forces’ Science Corps, and later became a civilian organization.

It is technically under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office, but is in close communication with the Defence Ministry.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have ordered the institute to devote resources to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 on February 1.

The Defence Ministry in March had denied any breakthrough simply stating that “if and when there will be something to report, it will be done in an orderly fashion”, the Defence Ministry told Ha”aretz at the time.
“The biological institute is a world-renowned research and development agency, which relies on experienced researchers and scientists with great knowledge and quality infrastructures. There are now more than 50 experienced scientists working at the institute on researching and developing a medical remedy for the virus”, it had said.

The normal process of development of such a vaccine requires a long process of pre-clinical trials on animals, followed by clinical trials. This period allows for a full characterization of side effects and a better understanding of how different populations are affected.

Five shipments of virus samples arrived in Israel from Japan, Italy and other countries, news portal Ynet reported in February.

They were brought by a specially secured Defence Ministry courier to IIBR and had been frozen at -80 degrees Celsius.

There has been intensive work, including by leading experts, to develop the vaccine since then.

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The Supreme Court also ordered the government to extend permanent service – which has only been applicable to men so far – to all women officers, signalling a move towards gender parity in the traditionally male bastion.

With this women will get the same opportunities and benefits as their male colleagues, including ranks, promotions and pensions and be allowed to serve longer tenures.

Currently, women are inducted through a short-service commission that lets them work for up to 14 years and only allowed permanent commission in the army’s legal and educational wings.

“To cast aspersion on their abilities on the ground of gender is an affront not only to their dignity as women but to the dignity of the members of the Indian Army,” judges said in their ruling.

Last week the government opposed women being appointed to top roles such as colonels and brigadiers, saying most soldiers were men from rural backgrounds who were not “mentally schooled to accept women officers in command”.

The government also argued that men and women officers were physically different and could not be treated equally.

The top court rebuked the government, describing its views as “disturbing” and urged “the need for change in mindsets to bring about true equality in the army”.

It, however, did not rule on deploying women in combat roles, saying a competent authority needed to decide.

India, with one of the largest armies in the world, has long resisted including women in combat roles, citing concerns over women’s vulnerability if captured and over their physical and mental ability to cope with front-line deployments.

India’s air force and navy offer a permanent commission to women as well as select combat roles.

Most countries employ women in various roles in their armed forces but only a handful, including Australia, Germany, Israel and the United States, allow them to take on combat roles.

India began recruiting women to non-medical positions in the armed forces in 1992, yet they make up about 4 percent of the army’s more than one million personnel, according to latest data.

Aishwarya Bhati, a lawyer who represented female officers at court, lauded Monday’s judgement as one that would remove discrimination and boost women’s role in the army.

“They (judges) have completely negated all the farcical stands raised by the army to deny women equal opportunities,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“These battles are watershed moments not just for women in the Indian army, but for women across the world.”

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India on Wednesday called on Israel and Palestine to consider the US peace plan for the Middle East in possible negotiations in future for a two-state solution.

New Delhi’s position on the Israel-Palestinian issue was outlined by external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar while responding to a question on US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

The proposal, which envisages Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital and a potential Palestinian state with restrictions while also recognising Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, has already been rejected by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a “conspiracy”. Kumar said India has been “consistently supportive of the Palestinian cause” and called for a “two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue”.

He added, “We reiterate our view that the final status issues should be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties. We urge the parties to engage with each other, including on the recent proposals put forward by the US, and find an acceptable two-state solution.”

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