Abraham Accords

Context

The Abraham Accords was signed by the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, under U.S. President Donald Trump’s mediation.

Significance of the agreement

  • This accord clearly marks a new beginning in the relations between the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdoms and the Jewish state.
  • It is the first between Israel and Arab countries since the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty.
  • Under the agreement, the UAE and Bahrain would normalise ties with Israel.
  • This will herald better economic, political and security engagement.

US mediation

  • The accords offer a rare diplomatic win to Mr. Trump, whose other foreign policy bets were either disastrous or stagnant.
  • He has called the agreements “the new dawn of a new Middle East”.

Impact on West Asia’s conflicts

  • The Abraham Accords have historical and geopolitical significance.
  • But, it is too early to say whether the accords will have any significant impact on West Asia’s conflicts.
  • Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively.
  • But, the Gulf countries are not frontline states in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
  • They had established backroom contacts with Israel years ago; what is happening now is their normalisation.

Palestinian question

  • The agreements leave the Palestinian question largely unaddressed.
  • Arab countries are signing diplomatic agreements with Israel bilaterally.
  • Due to this, the Arab collective support for the Palestinian movement for nationhood is crumbling.
  • But it does not mean that the Palestinian question would fade away.
  • The vacuum left by the retreat of the Arab powers from the Israel-Palestine conflict is being filled by the non-Arab Muslim powers.
  • These non-Arab Muslim powers include Iran, Turkey and their allies.
  • The geopolitical sands may be shifting but the core issue concerning Israel is unresolved.

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