Israel's initial agreement with the UAE marked the first instance of Israel establishing diplomatic relations with an Arab country since 1994, when the Israel–Jordan peace treaty came into effect. The agreements were named "Abraham Accords" to highlight the common belief of Judaism and Islam in the prophet Abraham.
The Abraham Accords are a series of treaties normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, facilitated by the U.S. Administration between August and December, 2020. In the span of five short months, these four Arab states joined Egypt and Jordan in making peace with Israel. The agreements were called “The Abraham Accords” in honor of Abraham - the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The Abraham Accords began with the groundbreaking Israel-UAE
agreement in August, 2020.
- The UAE and Israel have never fought militarily, but
the UAE did participate in the Arab League boycott against Israel, which
had been in place since Israel’s establishment in 1948.
- The agreement was the result of shared interests
regarding threats posed by Iran’s regime and years of quiet/secret
cooperation.
· Israel opened an international diplomatic office in
UAE in 2015, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen made several secret
trips there, and the two governments cooperated to fight the coronavirus
pandemic.
· Both countries are interested in diversifying their
economies and engaging with each other to achieve that goal.
· Israel agreed to freeze its plans for
annexation/application of sovereignty in the West Bank as part of the deal..
·
The
agreement has led not only to diplomatic ties, but also cultural exchanges and
grassroots cooperation between people in both countries. Since the accords were
signed in September, 130,000 Israelis have visited Dubai and trade between
Israel and the UAE has reached 1 billion AED.
· In a move widely seen as tied to the Abraham Accords,
the U.S. agreed to sell advanced F35 warplanes to the UAE. This raised concerns among Israeli security officials
that these planes could be used to threaten Israel in the future. U.S. and
Israeli officials have discussed the issue and seem to have reached an
understanding about ensuring Israel can effectively defend itself.
· Israel and Bahrain initially signed a declaration of
peace, agreeing to normalize diplomatic relations, negotiate a formal peace
treaty, and not antagonize each other. Officials from the two countries then
began working together on the details of how they would cooperate in various
areas.
· Similar to the UAE, there was longtime quiet
cooperation between Israel and Bahrain. The King of Bahrain denounced the
Arab League boycott of Israel in 2017. In 2020, Bahrain hosted the “peace
to prosperity” conference, which was led by the U.S. Administration and
boycotted by Palestinian leaders.
· The UAE and Bahrain have since announced they would cooperate with Israel to present a unified front to the U.S. regarding the Iran nuclear deal and the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile program.
· Israel and Sudan signed a normalization agreement in
2020. This agreement is more complicated than the others because Sudan's
government is going through a transition with the stated goal of becoming more
democratic..
· There are some difficulties in implementing a
normalization agreement, namely that Sudan must first repeal a domestic law
that prohibits relations with Israel. Progress has also been slowed by
opposition from some groups in Sudan and a precarious transition in the
government.
· Israel and Morocco signed a normalization agreement in
2020. Morocco had quiet diplomatic relations with Israel prior to open
normalization. This was partly based on the long history of Jews in Morocco,
many of whom fled the country to Israel. The Moroccan government has made
efforts to preserve Jewish history and welcome Moroccan Jews who visit the
country.
· The U.S. recognized Morocco’s claims to the disputed territory of Western Sahara, as an incentive for the Moroccan government to normalize relations with Israel[20]. This was a controversial decision and it is unclear if the Biden Administration will adopt the same stance.
· The Palestinian Authority called the UAE-Israel
agreement a total betrayal and attacked the UAE.
· Hamas reacted as expected, saying the agreement
“served the Zionist narrative” and that Arab states should continue to engage
in anti-normalization[22].
· These statements led to backlash in the Arab world,
including a lengthy interview by former Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, levelling unprecedent and harsh public criticism of against
the Palestinian leadership[23].
· According to a poll by the Palestinian Center for
Policy and Survey Research, 80 percent of Palestinians “describe their feelings
towards [the Abraham Accords] as: treason, abandonment, and insult.”
· Dennis Ross, a former Middle East peace envoy for the
U.S., wrote that the UAE’s move “should also signal to Palestinians that others
are not going to wait for them” to make peace with Israel.
Omen, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia
are considering signing normalization agreements with Israel.
Comments
The Abraham Accords had its beginnings in 1994, when Arab Countries were recognizing that they would need to expand their economies. UAE was the first to recognize the need to expand in 1994 and they knew that Israel had succeeded. Fracking became common in the US in the 1990s. Obama did not support fracking between 2009 and 2016.
When Trump offered to help in 2020, the UAE was the first to sign on with a “normalization agreement”. After that, other Arab Countries followed. At the same time, Arab Countries supported a 2-state solution that never materialized. The Abraham Accord Model is still viable and needs to be taken up after Israel defeats Iran’s Terrorist Proxies. All good Arab Counties will need to support the economic isolation of Iran. The good Arab Countries like Saudi Arabia will need to plan for lower oil and gas prices if Trump is elected.
This post covers Countries, Dates, Agreements and Motivation. Yemen, Syria and Lebanon will either have to eliminate their Iranian Terrorist Proxies or suffer total economic solation.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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