On September 15, in a deal brokered by United States (US), President Donald Trump, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed the historic Abraham Accords Declaration to finalise the normalisation of diplomatic ties between Tel Aviv and the Gulf states, joining Egypt and Jordan in the list of Arab states who share bilateral relations with the Jewish state. In October, Sudan, joined the UAE and Bahrain, while this week, Morocco became the latest country to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel; Oman, Qatar, and Tunisia are expected to follow their suit in the near future.
In some quarters, the Abraham Accords, and the deals that have followed soon after, represent the “deal of the century”, and are expected to bring long sought-after peace and stability to the Middle East. According to Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations’ (UN) Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, “these developments will encourage Palestinian and Israeli leaders to re-engage in meaningful negotiations towards a two-State solution and will create opportunities for regional cooperation.”
For others, however, these deals are tantamount to a “betrayal” of the collective Arab ‘Axis of Resistance’ against Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Palestinians have long argued that the normalisation of Arab-Israeli ties goes against their pressure campaign on the Jewish state, and have been pushing for a full Israeli withdrawal from its illegally occupied territories and the formation of an independent Palestinian state as a precondition for Arab countries to regularise ties with Israel. Yet, 72 years into Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Arab world no longer seems as fiercely engaged in the struggle for Palestinian rights that it once championed.
At the Arab League meeting on September 10, the league essentially refused to pass a resolution that condemned the normalisation of ties between the UAE and Israel, despite Palestine’s strong insistence. In fact, Palestine called on Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit to resign if he could not condemn the treaty. Gheit, however, countered that “it is the indisputable right of each country to have sovereignty in conducting its foreign policy in the way it sees fit”.
However, these recent developments don’t necessarily equate to Arab states withdrawing their support for the Palestinians. Some states, such as Egypt, are still reeling from the aftershocks of the “Arab Spring”, resulting in domestic security and economic concerns taking priority at the expense of the Palestinian cause. The growing animosity between Iran and Turkey has also facilitated deeper cooperation between Arab states, wherein signing a US-brokered deal, whose rivalry with both Turkey and Iran is intensifying by the day, offers the promise of diplomatic and economic concessions, strong relations with the world’s leading superpower, and receiving high-tech artillery.
UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, for example, recently signed a deal with the Trump administration for $23 billion worth of advanced fighter jets and drones to UAE. Next, Bahrain, a small, Shiite-majority country sandwiched between Qatar and Saudi Arabia agreed to become a part of the deal just because of its loyalty towards Riyadh. Saudi Arabia represents somewhat of a focal point for US foreign policy in the Middle East, and Manama shares close ties with and is highly dependent on Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has already indicated that it is open to recognising Israel and also gave its approval to the Trump administration’s decision to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Keeping this in mind, although Saudi Arabia has itself not yet normalised ties with Israel, some experts argue that Washington has used Riyadh’s bargaining power in the region to push the Saudi Crown to strongly urge its allies, such as Bahrain, to do so. Bahrain, too, with Saudi Arabia’s royal assent, has readily accepted this deal, due to the promise of weapons deals. In fact, Manana is expected to receive F- 35 stealth fighters from Washington.
Likewise, Sudan agreed to recognise Israel as sovereign in return for the US removing it from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and unblocking economic aid and investment. Similarly, the latest deal with Morocco brought with it the US recognizing Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara region, where Moroccan forces have been involved in an armed struggle with separatist Sahrawi forces.
These developments do not necessarily mean that these Arab states have withdrawn their support for Palestine. In fact, David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Daniel Shapiro, Obama’s ambassador to Israel, argued in The Washington Post that “history and common sense both show that Arab states that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel play a more active role in supporting Palestinian aspirations than those who do not.” Egypt and Jordan, for example, who respectively normalised ties with Israel in 1979 and 1994, have time and again vocalized their concern for Palestinians. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II have both have consistently emphasized on the need for a two-state solution based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and called for East Jerusalem to be made the Palestinian capital. Egypt has also attempted to facilitate the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and is now mediating both a Gaza ceasefire deal and a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. Meanwhile, Jordan hosts the largest number of Palestinian refugees in the world, strongly advocates for Palestinians and voices its concerns regarding Israeli annexation in its diplomatic engagements with Washington, and has attempted to initiate favourable circumstances for future dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. Additionally, Jordanian Hashemite Government has tirelessly worked to preserve Islamic landmarks in Israel such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Having said that, for all their external support for the Palestinian cause, Egpyt and Jordan haven’t been able to stymie Israeli human rights abuses, demolition of Palestinian homes and the annexation of Palestinian territory, or the development and extension of Israeli settlements, all of which have continuously reduced the autonomy, power, and land of the Palestinian people. It could thus be argued that the two Arab states have merely made symbolic gestures to placate Palestinians or project an image of an enduring friendship while continuing to honour their relations with Israel. There is a danger of this happening with the states who signed the Abraham Accords as well. In fact, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) reports that, since the signing of the treaties, the demolition of Palestinian properties has actually increased in frequency and surpassed previous records, with almost 973 Palestinians losing their homes between January and November this year. Nevertheless, the truth is that Israel took these actions even before the Abraham Accords were signed, indicating that a lack of formal diplomatic ties with Israel doesn’t allow or push Arab states to curb Israeli actions anyway. However, the signing of the Accords does appear to essentially offer a form of tacit approval of such actions, which can only increase their prevalence.
The normalisation deals between Arab states and Israel thus appears to be more centred around the US’ involvement than Israel’s, with countries using this as an opportunity to gain diplomatic and economic concessions from, and sign crucial arms deals with, Washington. Thus, rather than acting as a guarantor of peace, these “deals of the century” appear to be entirely transactional in nature and do not have the best interests of Israelis, or Palestinians, or the Middle East at their heart. Likewise, while the Trump administration has illustrated these deals as a beacon of a peaceful tomorrow in the troubled region, these deals represented attempts to curry favour with voters ahead of the US presidential election, and now represent an attempt by the outgoing president to leave a lasting legacy now that that election is over. At the same time, looking beyond the current administration, it has allowed the US to gain crucial military and strategic allies to counter the rise of Iran and Turkey. Against this backdrop, many have questioned whether the Arab states have abandoned their support for Palestine; however, as these deals have shown, the plight of Palestinians and peace in the Middle East is somewhat of an afterthought to these countries, who are merely looking out for their own interests.
Are the Normalisation Deals With Israel Truly Aimed at Securing Peace in the Middle East?
The Abraham Accords have been heralded as landmark agreements that will facilitate long sought-after peace and stability to the Middle East. Yet, the situation remains unchanged.
December 12, 2020
SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST EYE