Loading ...Arab-Israeli Accords Seem more about Trade, Less about Peace—at least for Palestinians
By: John Mason/ Arab America Contributing Writer
Recent accords signed by Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain, signal a rearrangement of part of the Middle East map, at least in symbolic terms. Neither of these Arab countries had fired a shot at Israel, so that the accords seemed more akin to opening trade relations, including a strong dose of tourism. One important concession of the accord with the UAE is that the annexation of over 30% of the occupied Palestinian territory has been taken off the table for the time being. However, the accords mention nothing about peace in the East that includes Palestinian interests.
The Arabs may have tricked Trump into a ”Deal” but not one dealing with overall Peace
Peace accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and soon, Sudan, signed in the past few months, do not come close to the success President Trump boasted about in 2017. Israel-Palestine peace is what he projected, something that had eluded all preceding presidents. He thought such a peace prospect would be a piece of cake, and now, in 2020, he boasts again, but about his “Abraham Accords,” as his new claim to fame on the Mideast peace front. In 2017, according to the Washington Post, “’ We will get it done,’ Trump told reporters, saying that the task was ‘not as difficult as people have thought over the years.’” Trump believes these accords are bringing an end to “blood” in the Middle East. This, despite the fact the neither the UAE nor Bahrain had ever fired a shot on Israel.
Mixed opinions of the results of the Abraham Accords have been expressed by Middle East critics. Former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyck, for example, described the result as “Potemkin Diplomacy,” namely, an external façade to make things look better than they are. Aaron David Miller, who served six U.S. presidencies on Israeli-Palestinian issues, called the accord “significant and redemptive.” Another, Jeffrey Feltman, a former senior official in the State Department, stated, also according to the Post, that he “doesn’t think we should overstate the importance of relationships” between Israel and the Arab States that have “come out of the closet into the open.”
While the Gulf States have been frustrated by the Palestinian situation, the UAE, in its negotiation with Israel, offered normalization in exchange for removing annexation of over 30% of the West Bank from further discussions. In this sense, former ambassador Indyck, gave Trump a back-handed compliment, saying Trump deserves a prize for being the “accidental diplomat.” Further, also according to the Post, Indyck wrote, “If [Trump] had not pushed annexation in its plan,” the Emirates would not have “offered full normalization to block it.” So, in fact, the Palestinians received a temporary reprieve on annexation. But, additionally, the Emirates obtained an agreement with Washington to purchase a fleet of F-35s, a state-of-the-art combat plane. Netanyahu, after some internal squabbling in Israel, conceded the sale of the planes.
As to the Palestinians…?
Israelis of the right and left seemed pleased with the normalization part of the accords, according to the Post. A Tel Aviv pollster reported, “The Right feels like they didn’t have to make any concessions to the Palestinians to get it, and the Left loves peace agreements.” But where do the Palestinians sit in these negotiations of the several accords, which seem more based on convenience than principle. One example of this convenience is that UAE and Bahrain residents will have an easier time visiting their holy sites in Jerusalem than Palestinian Arab residents of the West Bank. No wonder the Palestinians feel abandoned.
Both UAE and Bahrain, in signing agreements with Israel, have focused on the key role of a two-state solution for the Palestinian people. In celebrating the accord in Washington, according to the Arab Daily News, ”In what seemed like a re-enactment of ceremonies that have come before, nearly 1,000 people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday to watch Arab and Israeli leaders sign landmark normalization accords. In addition to the promise of a new page in Jewish-Arab relations, the event generated photo-ops that President Donald Trump will find useful as he heads down the final stretch of the 2020 presidential campaign.”
These recent accords are significantly different from the treaties signed with Egypt and Jordan, with Palestinian inclusion, following the Yom Kippur or sixth of October war in the early-mid 1970s. These were directed at ending actual military hostilities and the creation of a Palestinian state. The new accords are aimed at normalization of relations between Israel and Gulf states which have not been involved in direct military conflict with Israel. For Prime Minister Netanyahu, this kind of accord has been critical to his foreign policy vision of making peace with surrounding Arab countries. For Mr. Trump, who brokered the accords, it represents some approval in liberal American media outlets, which see the accords as a possible political achievement.
That said, a peace accord with an Arab country has always been critical to Israel’s foreign-policy vision. Sealing deals with two Arab countries at the same time can only be described as a dream come true for an Israeli leader, in this case Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tellingly, while the American and Israeli leaders attended the celebration, the counterpart leaders from UAE and Bahrain were absent. They sent their foreign ministers instead, signaling that there may be a political price to pay for going outside the larger Arab community or, perhaps, indicating that the signing was not such a big deal after all.
Nowhere in the public ceremonies celebrating the accords was there any explicit mention of the Palestinians in the context of “bringing peace to us all.” However, in an Arab News interview with Israeli billionaire businessman and chairman of the influential World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, he “welcomed the Abraham Accords and emphasized that the Palestinian issue was still a priority.” Furthermore, Lauder expressed, optimistically, “This is going to have a ripple effect throughout the Middle East. I believe there will be other countries joining very shortly in this phase. And I believe very, very much that the Palestinians, seeing what is happening, will finally say it is time to come to the peace table and will sit down with Israel and the United States and say let’s talk peace.”
Now that’s an encouraging vision statement. What leverage Palestinians would bring to such a table is another thing? And what benefits they might or might not derive from such talks is indeterminate. However, we can hope.
References
“Mideast accords earn critics’ applause,” Washington Post, 11/1/2020
“Analysis of the Abraham Accords, UAE, Bahrain, and Israel,” The Arab Daily News, 9/16/2020
“The Abraham Accords, A Peace Deal with Biblically Prophetic Importance,” Times of Israel. 9/11/2020
John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID, the UN, and the World Bank in 65 countries.
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