The Abraham Accords cannot be viewed as a byproduct of the US presidential elections. If you think the peace deals are merely a campaign tactic, you've got American priorities all wrong. You can choose to ignore the bigger picture, historic significance, and the people who are driving peace on the ground, but you can't ignore public opinion polls.
According to five top opinion polls, issues Americans care about most in the 2020 presidential election include healthcare, economy, immigration, national security, gun laws, and the environment among others. Foreign policy was not in the top 10 in any survey.
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If the aim of this agreement was to rekindle Trump's presidential campaign and sway the American voter, I would ask why most American TV channels, which are primarily local, don't even cover the peace deal. Are all local channels anti-Trump and looking to minimize his global achievement? Of course not. Local channels reflect the concerns of the community, the same community that cares more about their economy, the standard of living, and healthcare than a peace treaty thousands of miles away. Choosing the candidate that will best serve your community agenda typically means the area where you live, and not a region located thousands of miles away across the Atlantic.
If the peace agreement between Israel and the UAE is nothing but a political stunt – it's the most generous stunt of the decade. I mean, if it took an American election to achieve the most significant paradigm shift in the Middle East since late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem then I can't help but ask what were the past 45 presidents wasting their campaign money on up until now?
Regional forces are dramatically shifting and US elections are simply not the driving force for Middle East Peace. Having to write this seems ridiculous in itself.
I've read multiple pieces accusing President Trump of using the Abraham Accords as an election success story. Any candidate trying to get elected or re-elected as president of the United States of America will use whatever gains they possess to gain votes. If you have something better than the first peace deal in 25 years by all means use that to your advantage- any politician would.
Similar claims are made against Netanyahu who is standing trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Neither Trump nor Netanyahu have been given a grace period following the Abraham Accords. In Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's case, it is not because Israelis don't have foreign policy high on their list, but because there are more pressing domestic issues to deal with.
Israelis refer to Netanyahu as "the magician" – a term used both positively and negatively. Recent polls however indicate the opposition right-wing Yamina party is closing the gap with Netanyahu's Likud, calling the entire magic theory into question yet again.
The peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain is widely favored among Israelis, but it contrasts with serious dissatisfaction at home. While Israelis are eager to travel to the Gulf, let's not forget that they have been stuck at home for several weeks until recently due to a second nationwide lockdown. Ask any one of the tens of thousands of Israelis protesting across Israel and they will blame Netanyahu for miserable handling of the Pandemic. At this point Israelis are feeling so helpless, a trip to the local grocery store will suffice.
All this is to say that the Abraham Accords, amazing as they truly are, cannot erase – or even ease – domestic strife.
The biggest mockers of the new Israeli-Gulf relationship are unquestionably the Palestinians. They rejected the deal immediately and left no room to recognize their longtime Emirati ally's achievement in blocking Israel's plan to extend sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
Palestinians see the deal as a betrayal as it calls for normalization with Israel through the good ol' formula they grew up on "if we don't get a piece of peace, no one does." The Abraham accords aren't killig the prospects of an independent state of Palestine, the Palestinian reaction to it is.
Those who believe that Jerusalem's holy sites are in danger due to the agreement can rest assured the Hashemite custodianship of Muslim and Christian holy sites hasn't changed. The only ones threatening the city right now are extremists targeting and harassing Emirati worshippers who have come to visit the Temple Mount, Islam's third holiest site.
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