The Historic Abraham Accords

By Olivia Pierson
First published on Insight@theBFD 17/09/2020

Straight on the heels of the Trump administration’s historic peace deal between Muslim Kosovo and Eastern Orthodox Serbia – a deal that has seen the president nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Trump’s competent and skillful peace negotiators have achieved yet another great feat toward the goal of a more peaceful world: The Abraham Accords which were signed at the White House today.

Over the last four years, the Trump administration and Jared Kushner have put back-breaking effort into stabilising the Middle East through a peace process with the United Arab Emirates and Israel at its heart.

Trump stated early on in his candidacy as the Republican nominee that he wanted to negotiate a peace deal to help end the Arab-Israeli conflict. But instead of trying to deal directly with the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza – who refuse to recognise Israeli independence and Israeli guardianship of Jerusalem’s holy sites, he focussed on other Arab nations, who not only exhibit slightly broader minds but also have a common enemy in the currently brutal Iranian regime.

Former President Obama’s Iran deal, the JCPOA, was despised by the Sunni Arab nations. Trump vowed to “rip it up” if he became president, and so he did.
 
When President Trump took the momentous step of moving the U.S embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2019, warnings were issued from President Erdogan of Turkey, King Abdullah II of Jordan and senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat that the decision would be “disastrous."  

​Former Secretary of State John Kerry said it would cause “an absolute explosion in the region.”

Erekat said that the move would mean “the destruction of the peace process as a whole.”

They could not have been more wrong.

On September 4th, 2020, Kosovo and Serbia both agreed to open embassies in Jerusalem as part of their new peace deal.

Today, Bahrain, the UAE and Israel have agreed to normalise relations by exchanging diplomatic embassies in each others’ nations and through mutual trade, technology sharing and an ongoing commitment to further mutual prosperity. This agreement goes way beyond just refraining from hostilities. It is a warm covenant with a view to a much better future for all concerned, but even more than that, it is the Arab nations openly acknowledging Israel’s right to exist as a nation state; it is an acceptance that hostility with Israel is pointless and fruitless.

Outside of Turkey, Israel has the greatest non-petrodollar economy in the region with enormous talent in innovation and technology. They’re well known around the world for their start-up business culture. Now, these markets can be opened up to the Gulf states in a way that was previously not possible. Israel stands to gain new oil markets after relying heavily on trade with the Iraqi Kurds – a wobbly market for them due to ongoing Iranian influence and hegemony. 

The wording of the deal itself says “widening the circle of peace,” a reference to the hopeful inclusion of other Arab nations: Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, but also states its goal to be “continuing the efforts to achieve a just, comprehensive and enduring resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Saudi Arabia’s official position is that they will not sign the accords until there exists a final status agreement for a two-state solution between the Palestinians and Israel, but in the meantime they have opened their air-space for flights between Israel and the UAE to cross over their country.

These accords have been down-played by the hate-Trump media, of course, but that in no way diminishes the monumental achievement that they are in fact.

If you enjoyed this article, please buy my book "Western Values Defended: A Primer"