Why is Israel becoming closer to Arab countries?

Posted on 2nd Sep 2020 by rohit kumar

The first official flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday was a historic event. This was the first formal and important step towards normalizing mutual relations in the context of the peace agreement announced between the two countries last month.

 

Apart from Israeli officials, Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump was also present on the flight, who said as soon as the plane came down, "A new script for a Middle East (West Asia)."

 

Jared Kushner (who is also a Jew himself), who helped to write this new script, was always involved in talks between the two sides. This agreement has been a big political agenda of US President Donald Trump.

 

America, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates all three countries benefit from this agreement. The recognition of Israel will get a boost in the region. The United Arab Emirates will be assisted by Israel in the field of security and cyber superpower and will present the US President himself as a peace envoy in the Middle East in front of the American voters in the November 3 presidential election.

 

While informal exchanges of Israel with the United Arab Emirates have been going on for a few years, but the distance between the Gulf countries and Israel has reduced considerably due to Iran's increasing power in the region. Oman and Bahrain are also examples of this.

 

Aftab Kamal Pasha, professor at the West Asia Center at Jawaharlal Nehru University, says, "There is a reason for Iran's growing power to bring the two sides closer. They fear Iran."

 

But according to Professor Pasha, there are many more reasons for proximity in Israel and Arab countries. Those reasons are the declining oil prices, the danger of rebellion against governments in the Gulf countries, and the fear of the end of American support.

 

They say that Israel will get recognition and legitimacy in the region through this agreement and other Arab countries can join hands with Israel.

 

Professor Pasha says that Israel sees the United Arab Emirates (given Iran's threat) as a large market for selling modern weapons and security equipment.

 

In the context of the changing political and economic environment in the region, and the economic problems caused by the Corona epidemic are also bringing Israel closer to Arab countries.

 

Dr. Ahmet Kuru, a specialist in West Asia at San Diego State University in the United States, says that in recent years, Muslim countries are more divided than ever.

 

Speaking to the BBC, he said, "Now is a good time for Israel to take advantage of the divide between the three Muslim power blocks in West Asia. The first is Turkey and Qatar, the second Iran and Iraq, and the third is the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt." Especially in the Middle East, there is a contrast between Qatar and the UAE in terms of shaping not only politics but also religion. "

 

They say that Israel's efforts to join hands with Arab countries should be successful only when Saudi Arabia and Egypt express their connivance.

 

Netanyahu's attempt to prove himself right

 

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been a believer and he has always said that peace agreements can be reached with Arab countries by keeping solutions to the Palestinian problem.

 

According to Israeli political expert Soni Avni, Prime Minister Netanyahu has sought to prove himself right by signing an agreement with the UAE.

 

In a conversation with the BBC, she says that in improving relations with Arabs, the Ministry of External Affairs has been running a digital outreach for years, in which millions of ordinary Arab citizens are informally connected to Israel.

 

One of these efforts is led by Linda Menuhin Abdul Aziz, who fled Israel from Iraq 40 years ago.

 

She is connected to millions of Arab youth in Iraq through her Foreign Ministry's Arabic Facebook page. He has written in an article that it may be his compulsion for the leaders of Arab countries not to speak openly about Israel, but the general public wants to get information about Israel.

 

Now the youth of the UAE will be able to visit Israel for the first time in their lives. Avni says, "When the distances are over, the grievances can be erased and the misgivings too."

 

But Sony Avni does not want to give Netanyahu only credit for this agreement and increasing closeness with the Arabs.

 

She says, "There are currently 13 such organizations in Israel, in which Israelis and Palestinians are busy working together to end distances from Arab countries, confront the Israeli government, and establish peace in the region."

 

Village of peace

 

In Israel, there is a village on the hill between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, in which Palestinian Muslims and Israeli Jews live together in love. The name of this village is Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam, which is composed of Hebrew and Arabic words and is famous in Israel for Palestinian-Jewish unity.

 

I visited this village two years ago and met both communities. During this time, I realized that there is a wall of hatred between the two communities in this village.

 

Last month, the village Palestinian woman, Samah Salam, was contacted again after the declaration of a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. I wanted to know from him what the reaction of the Jews and Muslims of his village to this agreement was His reply was, "Arab-Israeli differences are decades old. A thick wall of hatred has arisen between the two. We moved to this village in 1974 to show that we can live together.". Every citizen of this village is supportive of the formation of an Israeli and Palestinian nation under a "two-state solution". The Emirate Agreement makes it even more impossible to achieve. "

 

The "two-nation solution" to the Israel-Palestine conflict, issued since 1948, meant that Palestine should be a separate independent nation and Israel separate. For this, there have been several rounds of talks on both sides, but for the last 10 years, the talks have been in a sour mood.

 

Condition of agreement

 

The Palestinian issue and the third holy city of the Muslim world, Eastern Jerusalem (which will be part of independent Palestine), was still agreed in Arab countries and these countries had the condition before Israel that unless they allow the Palestinians to form separate nations. Until then, they will not compromise on peace with them.

 

This consensus remained among the Arabs despite Egypt and Jordan's peace agreements with Israel. But now the United Arab Emirates appears to break this agreement by understanding with Israel.

 

Not only this, now it has become public that Sudan is also secretly talking to Israel. But Sudan, who is on the verge of compromise, has become a little cautious.

 

It says that the interim government of Sudan cannot make this decision and the new government that will come after the general elections due in 2022, will decide it.

 

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, the most powerful country of Arab countries, is seen to be soft towards Israel. It has not opposed the Israel-UAE Accord and is being told that by allowing Israeli planes to pass through Saudi airspace, Saudi Arabia wants to deliver the message that it may try to build ties with Israel in the coming years. is.

 

But perhaps the condition of Saudi Arabia is that Israel should give the Palestinians their rights first, then they will talk. On the other hand, Israel's relations with Oman are already good and now Bahrain also seems ready to meet with Israel.

 

Progress in this direction will also depend on who will win the US election.

 

Ever since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, he has been trying to resolve the issue soon. The Israel-United Arab Emirates peace deal has been executed with the help of the United States.

 

The United States wants other Arab countries to enter into a peace agreement with Israel so that in the end there will be an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, so that peace will be established in West Asia forever.