How Israel became a role model for Arab states

On their second anniversary, it can be said that the Abraham Accords constitute an ideological breakthrough of biblical magnitude.

By  David M. Weinberg

The beauty of the Abraham Accords is that they are marked by warm friendships, backed by a discourse of genuine tolerance and ideological moderation. This is even more important than the burgeoning trade and amazing defense relationships with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.

In repeated visits to the Gulf, my Arab interlocutors have emphasized that they seek nothing less than to redefine the identity and global image of Arab Muslims and that they see Israel’s blending of tradition with enlightenment as a role model for this.

Imagine that: Israel as a role model for modernizing moderate Arab societies! This is so encouraging – indeed empowering to me – as a Jew and as an Israeli. It gives new meaning to the biblical prophesy that “From Zion, Torah shall go forth, and the word of G-d from Jerusalem.”

The basis for this is the similarity of our societies. Israeli society and the societies of UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco cherish their strong ethnic, cultural, and religious identities while appreciating modernity. They concurrently uphold proud nationalist sentiment and a broad-minded approach to advanced education, international brotherhood, and regional cooperation.

But blending tradition with enlightenment is a complex task, which Israel has done relatively well. Lo and behold, the Abraham Accords partners want to learn from Israel in this regard. To me, this is the whirlwind peace bonanza, an ideological breakthrough of near-biblical magnitude.

In fact, the accords are a joyous revolution that overturns generations of Arab and Islamic ideological delegitimization of Israel. They are a stinging repudiation of the ongoing Palestinian campaign to deny Jewish history and criminalize Israel in international institutions.

Alas, some grouches on the political Left still dismiss the Abraham Accords as a product of Trumpian razzle-dazzle that were finalized thanks only to billion-dollar arms deals and other diplomatic rewards. They assert that the accords will be short-lived and unravel under Iranian pressure and Western disinterest.

I say that this is a complete misread of Emirati, Bahraini and Moroccan commitments in pursuit of peace with Israel. The Abraham Accords are deeply rooted in genuine ideological intentions (as well as urgent security realities) and are locked in for the long term.

It is true that at an event celebrating the Abraham Accords at the Atlantic Council in Washington in September, UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba (a key architect of the accords) referred to the Palestinians as “the elephant in the room,” and called on signatories to the accords to do more to advance a two-state solution. “The accords were not meant to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but they were meant to buy space and time to create room for diplomacy to address the two-state solution,” he said.

Well, there is no argument that an Israeli-Palestinian accord would be good for all parties. Indeed, everybody hoped that Palestinian leaders would take the Abraham Accords’ hint and realize that the time to compromise with Israel irrevocably had come. There are so many new regional forums relating to gas supplies, water cooperation, environmental projects, tourism, and defense that the Palestinians could join to their benefit! The Abraham Accords need not “sideline” the Palestinians if the Palestinians don’t sideline themselves.

But Arab leaders knew in advance of signing the Abraham Accords that the current Palestinian leadership is light-years away from being ready to compromise or cooperate with Israel.

They knew in advance, and they certainly know ever-more two years later, that Mahmoud Abbas and his cronies, as well Hamas chieftains in Gaza, have locked themselves into a doomsday loop of destruction – both a commitment to Israel’s destruction and to the Palestinian People’s own obstinate self-destruction.

Israel faces another Palestinian wave of terrorism these days not because of any “provocative actions” on Israel’s part nor because “a political horizon for the Palestinians” is missing, but because killing Israelis has been the DNA of the Palestinian national movement going back 50 years to the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972. And despite the Oslo process, Palestinian leaders haven’t matured much beyond that.

Moreover, the deleterious dynamic of Fatah-Hamas competition – i.e., the complete dysfunctionality and corruption of Palestinian politics – leads to ever-more radicalism as the two rival movements seek the upper hand by demonstrating their anti-Israel and antisemitic bona fides. The bottom line is that waiting for the Palestinians to wise up is a loser’s game, and Abraham Accord countries are too smart to play this game any longer.

The winning game involves nurturing the better nature of peoples through cultural and business partnerships and so many more peaceful interfaces. The winning game strengthens every party while simultaneously solidifying the regional infrastructures of Middle East peace and prosperity.