[As Prepared]

Shalom and marhaban. Thank you for the opportunity to send greetings, on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development, to everyone gathered to focus on an area of great interest and great opportunity.

Now, after years of stalemate, Israel and the Arab world are starting to come together. The Jewish state, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are building new and meaningful bonds of friendship, respect, and lasting peace--one that will benefit Israelis, Emiratis, Bahrainis, Palestinians, and millions more in the Arab world and emerging-market countries.

The Abraham Accords will unleash the full potential of millions of people who have previously not been able to share ideas, visit each other, and build a more hopeful world. The participating nations will be able to prosper together through trade and shared innovation. They will work together to advance developments in water engineering, energy, health care, agriculture and infrastructure. And they will pursue together larger opportunities for regional cooperation and stability. Nations once sworn to Israel’s destruction now accept her as a neighbor and as a friend. We at USAID are eager to help Israel and its new diplomatic partners bring the fruits of peace to emerging markets.

Having overseen the signing of an MOU with Israel’s development agency MASHAV, I have seen how the Jewish State devotes itself to the peaceful and lasting development of other nations.

Israel was founded as a nation of refugees. In its first decade of existence, it had to impose food rationing. But through their own hard work and American friendship and support, Israelis have built a thriving, free country, generous in its own right.

Today, Israel exports its innovations across the globe and cooperates with America to address some of our world’s most urgent problems, including the widespread demand for reliable energy throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

We are continuing to build on this important partnership.

Together, America and Israel are helping the developing world flourish: farmland is greener, science is more advanced, technology is more secure, and emerging markets are growing. This is what’s possible when nations work together and trust each other.

It’s what’s possible when governments unclench their fists and extend their hands in friendship.

And it is the goal of the American people to see the state of Israel and the Palestinian people find the path of cooperation, of shared development and of peace.

Thank you for your work towards this great cause. And thank you for supporting the goal of peace.