Palestine has refused to chair a meeting of the Arab League in protest of a normalization of relations between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain with Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki made the announcement at a news conference in Ramallah on Tuesday (September 22nd). Palestine has taken this decision in protest of the Arab League's backing of the UAE and Bahrain's agreement with Israel.

Palestine made a proposal at a meeting of the Arab League on September 9 to condemn the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for normalizing relations with Israel, but that proposal was not accepted. However, al-Maliki said that Palestine would not withdraw from the Arab League even if it did not chair the upcoming meeting. On July 15, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates formally signed an agreement to normalize relations with Israel.