The so-called Abraham Accords were initially announced by the Trump administration in Washington D.C., in August 2020. The intriguing accords, which raised a lot of eyebrows in the Arab-Muslim world and euphoria in Israel, were later signed at an elaborate White House ceremony attended by Mr. Trump. The essence of the accords was an agreement by the two small and highly autocratic regimes of UAE and Bahrain to normalize their relations without any restrictions, reservations or conditions pertaining to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and unmitigated repression and persecution of nearly more than 8 million Palestinians.
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The fact that the so-called Abraham Accords made no mention of Islamic holy places in Jerusalem infuriated Palestinians and drew harsh criticisms from many quarters in the Arab-Muslim world.
Moreover, the conspicuous absence from the accords of any commitments by Israel to terminate its military occupation, apartheid regime, and unrelenting repression of Palestinians prompted many Arab commentators to accuse the two Gulf Sheikhdoms of committing clarion treason against the Palestinian cause.
However, Pro-normalization circles in the Arab world, especially in the Gulf region insisted that normalizing with the Zionist occupier would make Israel more moderate, or at least less bellicose, and would facilitate the accomplishment of peace in the region. They further argued that the so-called Abraham Accords would bolster regional stability, and foster cooperation, and economic prosperity.
Moreover, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent the Sissi regime of Egypt which receives annual American economic and military aid amounting to $2B, supported The so-called Abraham Accords in varying degrees, and urged Arabs to “give the accords the benefit of the doubt.” As for the Egyptian public opinion, it is widely believed that a vast majority of ordinary Egyptians, as is the case with the bulk of Arabs, have a decidedly negative attitude toward the accords, viewing them as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause and people.
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In just a few months, The so-called Abraham Accords attracted two additional Arab states: Morocco and Sudan. The first is a corrupt monarchy whereas the second is ruled by military officers who had seized power in Khartoum following a popular uprising against Gen. Umar al Bashir several months earlier.
It is highly possible that the “normalization train” would have picked other vulnerable Arab autocrats had it not been for the political downfall of Trump following his election loss last year. Trump, whose Jewish-Zionist son-in-law Jared Kushner, was the driving force behind the “normalization fever. ” managed to cajole and\or bully “normalization-friendly” Arab leaders to normalize with Israel, irrespective of the Palestinian issue.
Seeking to refute charges of betrayal, UAE officials claimed that Israel agreed to put an end to further land confiscation and settlement expansion in the West Bank. However, it was crystal clear that the Emirati claim had no iota of truth to it whatsoever, as Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his successor Naftali Bennet made it amply clear that the Jewish state made absolutely no such pledges or commitments in the context of the Abraham Accords. In fact, Israel proved that actions speak louder when it demolished several multi-story Arab buildings in the vicinity of East Jerusalem. Additional Palestinian land was also seized throughout the West Bank which showed that Israel understood the Abraham Accords, not as a peace scheme, but rather as a de facto capitulation by two Arab states to Israeli hegemony in the region.
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Predictably, UAE and Bahraini officials resorted to a deafening silence in the face of Israeli defiance and provocations. In fact, officials from the two Gulf states lessened rather markedly their criticisms of aggressive Israeli measures, including killing all reasonable prospects for the establishment of a viable, sovereign, and territorially-contiguous Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The so-called Abraham Accords: Helpless political orphans
That is why, it would be sufficiently safe to argue that Israel views the Abraham Accords as a PR ruse or ploy to make the Palestinians lose the last remaining official Arab support which would reduce them to helpless political orphans, while emboldening the Zionist entity to force them, willy nilly, to come to terms with the Zionist-Jewish reality of Grater Israel, which more or less dominates the Arab world from Bahrain to Morocco.
Perils and challenges
Interestingly, Zionist supremacists have warned that the Abraham Accords could soon face serious perils and challenges in case the ongoing Iranian-Saudi talks, held in Baghdad, reach a successful end. A recent article in the extreme right-wing Israeli news site Ynet cautioned that should Iran succeed in wooing the Saudis too much from Israel and the US, the Abraham Accords would be doomed to a precarious future. Saudi Arabia. UAE and some other states in the region are reportedly edging away from the US orbit, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman (MBS) reportedly privately threatened to seek a “good riddance” from the American grip.
MBS’s grudges against Washington include, inter alia, the refusal of President Biden to speak with the Saudi crown prince, an escalating American pressure on the Saudis to end their dependence on fossil fuel, which would cause an earthquake-like crisis in the oil-dependent desert kingdom’s economy. Finally, some “Important people” within the immediate circle around MPS opined that the US would be like a sinking ship sooner or later and that it wouldn’t be in the Saudi interest to cling to such a ship.
Saudi Arabia remains the ultimate key to a lasting normalization with Israel
Despite the strident steps of normalization with Israel or The so-called Abraham Accords that Bahrain and UAE have made so far, Saudi Arabia remains the yet-to-be-won “ultimate award” that normalization proponents would have to acquire in order to enable Israel to have a strategic and lasting breakthrough in her relations with the Arab world.
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That is why it is very likely that these proponents are impatiently awaiting the possible return of the prodigal son to the White House to finish the job in the Middle East and enable Israel to receive the Saudi pendant.
But this wouldn’t be easy at all. The Saudi Foreigm\n Minister, Faisal ibn Farhan al Saud, said on numerous occasions that his country wouldn’t recognize Israel or normalize with her under all circumstances before the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on June 5, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Do these statements reflect the views of the more powerful MBS? That is the 63-million-dollar question as they say in America.! (end)
