Abraham Accords — Israel Normalises with UAE and Bahrain
The Abraham Accords — named after the patriarch revered by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — were signed at the White House on 15 September 2020, with agreements between Israel and the UAE (the Israel-UAE Peace Treaty) and Israel and Bahrain (the Bahrain-Israel Peace Declaration). Sudan and Morocco signed normalisation deals in subsequent months; Saudi Arabia did not sign but expanded limited cooperation. The strategic logic: The UAE and Gulf states had gradually deprioritised the Palestinian cause relative to the threat they perceived from Iran — Houthi missiles, Iranian proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Iran's nuclear programme, its regional network of non-state armed groups, and its ideological challenge to Sunni Arab monarchies had created a convergence of interest with Israel that preceded the Accords. Direct trade, tourism, investment, and intelligence cooperation were facilitated once the diplomatic barrier was removed. The Palestinian Authority denounced the Accords as a betrayal; the PLO's long-standing position was that Arab recognition of Israel must be conditioned on Palestinian statehood (the Arab Peace Initiative, 2002). The Accords explicitly bypassed this linkage: the UAE announced it had secured a commitment from Israel to pause West Bank annexation plans, but no Palestinian statehood concessions were obtained. Immediate consequences: Emirati airlines began direct flights to Tel Aviv; tourism, trade, and investment links expanded rapidly; Israel gained access to UAE technology partnerships and the implicit security umbrella of US-Gulf relations. The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Gaza War complicated further normalisation: Saudi Arabia suspended formal normalisation talks, and the mass Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza created political costs for Arab governments considering recognition. The name was chosen for the patriarch common to all three religions and was an American contribution rather than a regional one. What the agreements did not do is the part that became clear afterwards. No Palestinian question was settled and none was seriously addressed, and the assumption behind the whole design — that Arab governments would normalise regardless — was tested by the war that began in October 2023 and largely held. Saudi Arabia was in negotiation and did not sign.
- Year: 2020 CE
- Category: Political
