Israel: Making new friends in the Arab world
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just secured his legacy, said Boaz Bismuth in Israel Hayom (Israel). Under a U.S.-brokered deal that was announced last week, the United Arab Emirates has agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for Israel suspending its planned annexation of the West Bank. It’s a huge achievement for Netanyahu. Only two Arab states had previously recognized Israel—Egypt and Jordan—and most Arab countries in 2002 had vowed not to normalize relations with Israel until the Palestinians had secured statehood. Abu Dhabi’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (known as MBZ), deserves praise for abandoning that pointless pact. Our two nations’ militaries can now work together, which means Israel will have “a frontline base of operations in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran.” We’ll also benefit from having “robust trade ties” with the country that has “the seventh-largest oil reserve in the world.” Jewish settlers are upset that Netanyahu won’t deliver the annexation he promised in the last election campaign, but they can take solace in the fact that sovereignty has “been postponed, not abandoned.”
While many congratulate U.S. President Donald Trump for the breakthrough, the real credit should go to his predecessor, said Yaakov Katz in The Jerusalem Post (Israel). It was President Barack Obama’s “failed policy in the Middle East,” particularly the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, “that helped push Israel and the moderate Gulf states together.” Sunni Muslim Arabs in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain were aghast when Obama signed the pact that strengthened Tehran’s growing power. Desperate for an ally against Shiite Iran, they turned to Israel. Expect more Arab rulers to follow MBZ.
The UAE has sold out the Palestinians for weapons, said Hakki Ocal in the Daily Sabah (Turkey). With Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, MBZ hopes to build a “joint Muslim army to control the Middle East.” These two tyrants are already trying to bomb Yemen into submission but can’t get all the warplanes and bombs “they need from the U.S. because of congressional impediments.” Now no U.S. lawmaker will dare risk withholding arms from MBZ, the Arab leader who made peace with Israel.
Things look bleak for the increasingly isolated Palestinians, said Gideon Levy in Ha’aretz (Israel). But they should “see a faint, weak glimmer of light” in this deal. Many Israelis “know only two types of Arabs: terrorists and construction workers.” But the UAE, home of Dubai, is “an Arab country that has sent a satellite into space and whose skyscrapers are the most sophisticated in the world.” When Emirati pilgrims start coming to Jerusalem to worship, Israelis “will have to show respect to Arabs and treat them like human beings.” Maybe this will change how we treat Palestinians. It’s not much, “but it’s better than nothing.”