How Israel and the Arab World Are Making Peace Without a Peace Deal
How Israel and the Arab World Are Making Peace Without a Peace Deal
Author: Aaron David Miller
Turns out that solving the Palestinian question isn’t essential after all. And the Trump administration, Israel and a few of the Gulf Arabs seem fine with that.
Without much fanfare or notice, the first known commercial aircraft from the United Arab Emirates recently landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport. It was carrying Covid-19 supplies for the Palestinian Authority, which, out of pique, rejected them.
As unprecedented as the flight was, it really shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. For the past five years, contacts between Israel and the Gulf states—especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain—have been booming. The examples of what amounts to a Great Thaw in an otherwise frozen political landscape are plentiful:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with his wife and the director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, has been received in Oman by the late sultan. He has met the UAE and Omani foreign ministers in the U.S. Israel’s minister of culture has visited Dubai. Israelis, including Jerusalem’s chief rabbi, have been welcomed in Bahrain, and Bahrain has reached out to Israel for help battling Covid-19. Israeli athletes have competed in judo competitions in the UAE, where, for first time, the Israeli national anthem was played and the Israeli flag displayed. Trade between Israel and the Gulf states is now estimated at about $1 billion a year. One Israeli-owned company, AGT International, has reportedly concluded an $800 million deal with the UAE for border surveillance equipment. And this partial list comprises only the visible signs. Much more on the intelligence and security side is reportedly happening below the waterline.
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