So what he is saying in very direct terms is that the Arab states have other priorities on their agenda that are greater than defending the interests of the Palestinians. And so, from the Palestinians` point of view, this is a betrayal. This is a loss of leverage. After all, this was the great pressure point the Palestinians had with Israel. If Israel ever wanted to be recognized by its neighbors, it had to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. Now it is clear that he no longer needs to do so. And that makes their situation, if possible, more desperate than ever. It appears that the Americans helped seal the deal with the promise of advanced weapons that the UAE has barely been able to window shop in the past. These include the F-35 stealth fighter and the EA-18G Growler electronic fighter. The announcement, released after a joint phone call between President Trump, the Emirati crown prince and the Israeli prime minister, describes the deal as a step toward creating a new „strategic agenda for the Middle East“ aimed at expanding diplomatic, trade and security cooperation.

Along with the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates share a similar view on threats and opportunities in the region, as well as a shared commitment to promoting stability through diplomatic engagement, enhanced economic integration, and closer security coordination. There are rumors that other Gulf states like Bahrain could follow the UAE in normalizing relations. Here`s what you need to know today. On the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee — a virtual event due to the pandemic — a number of top Republicans, including former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and former presidential candidate John Kasich, backed Joe Biden, claiming that President Trump had abandoned the country and his party. A significant momentum for an agreement began when Israel did not begin the process of annexing the West Bank on July 1, as Netanyahu had indicated. The Emiratis reportedly took the opportunity to promise full normalization of relations if annexation were removed from the table. It was the subtext of a commentary published by the Emirati ambassador to the United States in June in Israel`s largest daily, Yedioth Ahronoth. He sympathized with Israel`s strong desire to expand the country`s formal diplomatic relations with the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf, and took advantage of the Emirati signal that Donald J. The Trump administration oversaw the tripartite diplomacy that led to the Abraham Accords.

That was not the case. And I must say at that time that I contacted Ambassador Otaiba and asked him, in light of this week`s news, if it would be acceptable for me to share this anecdote publicly. And he said he would, which is why I can tell you today. Nabil Abu Rudeineh [ar], a senior adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas, read an official statement in which the Palestinian leadership rejected the deal, calling it a betrayal of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinians. [63] The Palestinian Authority (PNA) recalled its ambassador from Abu Dhabi. [64] [65] Palestinian leaders also said that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh Abbas called for and rejected the deal, which Reuters called a „rare demonstration of unity.“ [66] The agreement between Israel and the UAE promises to establish normal relations between the two countries. These include business relations, tourism, direct flights, scientific cooperation and, over time, comprehensive diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level. However, the Emiratis are unlikely to locate their embassy in Jerusalem.

An important part of the Abraham Accords, while not explicitly stated, is increased security cooperation against regional threats, particularly from Iran and its proxies. It is important to note that Israel and the UAE have reportedly already established security relations, but the deal brings them to the public. Israel has its longest border with Jordan, two hundred miles from north to south, a remarkably stable and calm border for decades since the Jordanian civil war in 1970. The economic and environmental potential of cross-border cooperation is being realised on a large scale, a major step forward for green electricity and climate policy in the region, which is already on the brink of a climate crisis. A3: Probably not that close. The Saud family has had a special relationship with the clerical establishment since 1744, and many of these clerics would criticize what they see as a task of Palestine. Saudi Arabia is also the site of Islam`s two holiest mosques (the third holiest is located in Jerusalem), and it sees a special role for itself to lead the Muslim world. Many Muslims continue to feel emotionally and morally connected to the Palestinian cause, even though some governments are fed up. I would expect them to move slowly.

But peace is a one-way street. To make it easier for the UAE and Bahrain to become interlocutors with the Palestinians, Israel must – as Nuaimi has requested – „speak directly to the Palestinian people“ and demonstrate the positive effects that these peace agreements will have on them. The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the agreement, saying the history and peoples of the Middle East would not forgive or forget what the UAE had done, and that it was a violation of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. She called the UAE`s behavior hypocritical, adding that the Palestinians were right to reject the deal. [80] President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan later said turkey was considering suspending or severing diplomatic relations with the UAE in retaliation and recalled its ambassador from Abu Dhabi. [80] I would expect the Emiratis to act more unilaterally in the future, but I would also expect that less capable states, lacking the resources or capabilities of the Emiratis, would continue to act more unilaterally in the future. It is not clear whether this will lead to more or less stability in the Middle East. What is clear is that the vision of Emirati regional stability and the one it seeks to advance is that of strict political control. This contrasts with the vision of liberalized policies and vibrant civil societies that create resilience that various U.S. administrations in the Middle East have been pushing for many years. On September 1, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the UAE of betraying the Islamic world, Arab countries and Palestine. Khamenei said normalization will only be temporary, but the UAE will forever have to endure the shame of the deal.

He accused them of working alongside Israel and Kushner against the interests of the Muslim world, hoping that the country will soon regret what it has done. [79] The Iranians will likely feel more surrounded if their adversaries work more closely together, but in fact, the Emiratis were not about to start a war with Iran before, and they won`t do so now. The biggest losers are probably the Palestinians. They saw their own negotiating hand weak with Israel and relied on Arab solidarity to strengthen it. It is unclear whether a weaker stance will push the Palestinians toward greater reconciliation or less reconciliation with Israel. The normalization of relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain is a real success for the Israelis. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the deal should be pursued by Israel, which abandons any plan to annex parts of the West Bank, and that if the agreement could lead to its withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, it would bring the Middle East closer to peace. Otherwise, it would only exacerbate the Arab-Israeli conflict.

[88] Israel`s peace deal with Jordan – which, like the agreement with the UAE, formalized decades of secret relations – has seen similar volatility. The attack on the Israeli embassy in Amman in July 2017 and the case of Ahmed Daqamseh, the Jordanian soldier who shot dead seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997, are two of the most tragic examples. Popular calls for the treaty to be annulled are routine, and official relations fluctuate alongside Israeli-Palestinian tensions. In 2019, Amman terminated an Israeli lease for a Jordanian border enclave due to a lack of progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace, and this year it even considered terminating its peace treaty altogether if Israel annexes territory in the West Bank. Yes, that`s right. And this has indeed led us to a truly remarkable result in the annals of Middle Eastern diplomacy. The UAE has announced that it will normalize relations with the State of Israel, joining a very small number of Arab states that have recognized Israel. And it was not the least of a deal negotiated by the Trump administration. „The annexation will definitively and immediately undo all Israeli efforts to improve security, economic and cultural relations with the Arab world and the United Arab Emirates,“ al-Otaiba wrote at the time.

The headline reduced it to a clear compromise: „It`s either annexation or normalization.“ The deal gave Mr. Trump a very welcome breakthrough at a time when he was battling a deadly pandemic and economic collapse at home amid a re-election campaign that polls show he is losing. Israel and the Emirates, each for their own reasons, have been happy to honor Mr. Trump, advance their positions in Washington, and the president plans to hold a solemn signing ceremony at the White House in the coming weeks. So quietly, Jared Kushner told Netanyahu, cool him down. Hold yourself back with that. Don`t do that now. The reason it was some kind of trigger moment is that it was an unacceptable decision for the UAE and other Gulf Arab states. .