Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

On the South Lawn of the White House this week, Bahrain joined the UAE in signing agreements normalizing relations with Israel. While the peace deals stand as a major diplomatic achievement for the Trump administration, they signal an even greater shift in Arab-Israeli relations and a weakening adherence to the view that Israel must make peace with the Palestinians before it can make peace with the Arab states.  The agreements clear the way for greater cooperation against Iranian threats and create openings for joint business ventures, goods manufacturing, agricultural partnerships and cultural initiatives.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Hudson senior fellow and former under secretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith examines the "most stunning development in Arab-Israeli affairs since the 1993 Palestinian-Israeli Oslo Accords," and what it portends for the Middle East. 

See takeaways from Mr. Feith's insightful article below, and join us next week as Senator Marco Rubio sits down with Distinguished Fellow Walter Russell Mead for a conversation on U.S. relations with China, Latin America and Iran. 

Key Takeways

Highlighted takeaways from Douglas Feith's article in Foreign Policy, "Palestinians Can’t Stand In the Way of Israel’s Regional Integration"

1.  Perceived barriers to Arab-Israeli cooperation are falling away:

This diplomatic double-play refutes notions that have powerfully influenced U.S. Middle East policy for more than half a century. The first is the assumption that the Palestinians are central to the larger Arab-Israeli conflict. The second is the belief that the Palestinian problem has to be solved before the United States or Israel can improve relations with the Arab states. Both belong on the trash heap of the peace process.

2. Iran has drawn the UAE, Bahrain and Israel closer:

The accords reflect common apprehension of strategic danger from Iran. A number of Arab states, including the UAE and Bahrain, see Israel as a valuable ally in opposing that threat. Israel already counters Iran by military and cyber means, as well as diplomatically, especially in Washington. This had drawn the UAE, Bahrain, and Israel closer. 

3. Israel suspends formally declaring sovereignty over parts of the West Bank:

Officials from the Emirates and Bahrain have an interest in opening diplomatic, technological, commercial, and other connections to Israel. The controversy allowed them to strike a deal with Israel in return for Israel’s agreeing to “suspend declaring sovereignty” over parts of the West Bank. It appears that the Israeli government would have been happy to apply Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank with U.S. support, but it was even happier to suspend the action in return for a peace deal with the UAE—and one with Bahrain to boot.

Israel did not renounce its claim to sovereignty in the West Bank. It has agreed only to suspend formally extending it, without specifying a time period. In return, Israel wins the benefits of recognition from the UAE and Bahrain, hoping it also will lead to normalization with Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and other states. 

4. The days of Israel's "cold-peace relations" are over:

With increasing boldness, the Gulf Arab states are now showing a willingness to ally with Israel. They are shedding even the pretense of deference to Palestinian politicians. The UAE-Israel and Bahrain-Israel deals make this reality undeniable. The countries say they will not only work together against Iranian threats; they will also do business, investing jointly and working together to manufacture goods, grow food, and organize cultural events. They have spoken of medical cooperation and forging scientific and technological ties. They seem intent on making their peace far more normal—involving lots of people-to-people interaction—than has been the case with Israel’s so-called cold-peace relations with Egypt and Jordan.

5. The Trump Administration's strategy for Israeli-Palestinian peace:

By noting that greater strategic cooperation between Israel and the Arab states against Iran would “set the stage for diplomatic breakthroughs,” the Trump peace plan anticipated the UAE-Israel and Bahrain-Israel accords. It implied that such deals could usefully increase pressure on the Palestinians to reform their politics, which is the key to a breakthrough on the issue of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The message to the Palestinians from yesterday’s White House signing ceremony is that they need a political upheaval—new leaders, new institutions, new ideas—or they are going to become utterly irrelevant in the eyes of the world, including the broader Arab world. As they lose attention, they will lose diplomatic support and economic aid. If they cannot make war and they will not make peace, their hopes to shape their own future will diminish to nothing.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity

Go Deeper: Arab-Israeli Diplomacy