UAE-Israel Accord
by Mike James
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel reached an agreement on normalizing relations in mid-August. The UAE is now only the third Arab country after Jordan and Egypt to have diplomatic relations with Israel.
UAE officials said they made this move in part to stop Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank. The West Bank and Gaza Strip were Palestinian territories occupied by Israel after the Six Day War of 1967. Israeli settlers have created villages on some of this West Bank land and Israel was planning on taking over some of these areas. That has all been put on hold with this new agreement.
Annexation “would deal a death blow to the two-state solution,” said UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash. “The UAE is using its gravitas, its promise of a relationship to try to really unscrew a time bomb that is threatening the two-state solution.”
The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict pertains to a plan for an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation, with Palestinian and Arab leadership insisting on the “1967 borders,” which is not accepted by Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated the agreement with the UAE is the greatest advance toward peace with the Arab world in decades. “Who would have ever dreamed there would be a peace agreement with an Arab country without our returning to the 1967 borders,” Netanyahu said.
Most Israelis seem to approve of this move. A poll by Israel’s Channel 12 found that 76.7 percent of respondents back the peace deal over annexation, only 16.5 percent want annexation.
This agreement did not make the Palestinians happy. The move by the UAE was a “blatant violation” of understandings, worked out at Arab summits over the years, that made clear there should be no “normalization between the Arab countries and Israel before the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital,” according to Jamal Mhaisen, a senior leader of Fatah, the Palestinian party that rules in the West Bank.
“They are actually harming us,” said Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer and former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, referring to the UAEs claims that it was acting on behalf of the Palestinians. “They have taken away our voice. We don’t need anyone to speak on our behalf,” she said.
In Saudi Arabia, thousands of people posted messages on Twitter condemning the UAE’s move under the hashtag “Normalization is treason.” A prominent political scientist in the UAE posted a crying emoji on Twitter.
A gulf state official said the deal recognizes that the Middle East is different than it was when Saudi Arabia put forward a bloc proposal for peace with Israel in 2002. “The realities in the Middle East have changed tremendously since the Arab Peace Initiative,” the official said. “The threats against our nations have increased, we have gone through severe turmoil, and people in the region understood that even if people call us their allies today, tomorrow they might forget about all of their promises, and we are left alone.”
The official listed Iran, Turkey, and Qatar as aggressors and the political uncertainties in the United States as a factor many Gulf States are considering. President Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal reached with Iran under President Obama. Joe Biden might reinstate it if he wins the upcoming election.
Egypt was the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, in 1979. Jordan was the second in 1994. The UAE is only the third. There are 19 other Arab countries. There is talk that other agreements may be coming soon. Oman and Bahrain are considered the most likely countries to follow the UAE lead.
The Israeli-UAE agreement is definitely progress on the road to peace in the Middle East, but it is far from what real peace would mean. Now if the Palestinians and the Israelis ever formalize a peace agreement we may want to take notice. There is an interesting scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 which may be significant when we think of the end-time. It mentions the Day of the Lord coming like a thief in the night. The reason this happens seems to be because people will be happy there is peace and safety. Could this be relating to a final Arab-Israeli peace agreement that sets up a Palestinian state? I don’t know, but this is something we should be watching for. That would be such a startling accomplishment it may fool people into thinking all is well with the world when it is not.
Let’s stay awake to what is happening in the world (Revelation 16:15) so we are not caught unaware.
Sources: “Israel and UAE Reach Historic Accord,” by Anne Gearan and Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post, August 14, 2020.
“Palestinians Condemn Arrangement, While Egypt and Bahrain Praise It,” by Steve Hendrix and Kareem Fahim, The Washington Post, August 14, 2020.
“Israel-UAE Deal Signals an Evolving Middle East,” by Anne Gearan and Souad Mekhennet, The Washington Post, August 17, 2020.
“More Uncertainty After Israel’s UAE Deal Halts West Bank Annexation Plans,” by Steve Hendrix and Ruth Eglash, The Washington Post, August 18, 2020.