Jared Kushner speaks at the inaugural event of the Abraham Accords Caucus in the Knesset, Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who helped forge peace treaties between Israel and Arab states, said Monday that the so-called Abraham Accords “create a new paradigm in the region.”

Speaking at a ceremony at the Israeli Knesset marking the one-year anniversary of the historic agreements and the inauguration of the Abraham Accords Caucus, Kushner, who was accompanied by his wife Ivanka Trump, emphasized that “high expectations” should be set. The Caucus will focus on the promotion of the US-brokered normalization deals, and the advancement of future agreements with other countries.

The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco last year agreed to formalize their diplomatic ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords brokered with the help of the Trump administration.

“The Abraham Accords entail a real opportunity to bond people, and opens for us all a wealth of opportunities in the fields of economics, science and technology,” said MK Ruth Wasserman Lande, who co-leads the parliamentary group. “The caucus for the advancement of the Abraham Accords will produce fruitful and significant cross-border initiatives with its counterparts in Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE.”

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid thanked Kushner and Ivanka Trump for helping turn the agreements into “reality” when few thought it was possible.

“You have already entered history, already changed history. History won’t forget you. The people of Israel won’t forget you,” Lapid said.

Commenting on developments in recent months, Lapid said that the new government has turned the Abraham Accords into “a lever for a new reality, economically, and in terms of security as well as diplomatically.”

“I take this opportunity to tell Palestinians and the citizens of every Arab nation that we reach out for peace. The people of Israel did not return to their ancient homeland to fight, but to build a life of prosperity and good neighborliness here,” Lapid said. “Peace is not a compromise; it is the most decisive decision we can make. Peace is not weakness; it embodies all the power of the human spirit. War is surrender to all that is wrong with us; peace is the victory of all that is good in us.”

Also speaking at the Knesset event, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the Abraham Accords will “serve as engines of change in the Middle East since they have established peace between our people.”

“The fact that we prevented the unilateral annexation [of territories] enabled the vision of the Abraham Accords to break through and materialize. In order for the State of Israel to achieve peace agreements, it must remain the most powerful state in the Middle East. This is and will continue to be our guiding principle forever,” Gantz remarked.

“Israel is working to expand existing agreements and pursuing additional agreements. We are currently working to strengthen security cooperation between the countries that have signed the Abraham Accords and the State of Israel,” he added.