Ten months after the signing of the Abraham Accords, the UAE opened its first embassy in Tel Aviv on July 14 in the presence of Isaac Herzog, the Israeli President and Mohamed Al Khaja, the UAE's Ambassador to Israel. This event came after the inauguration of the Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, in Abu Dhabi, where Israel's first Embassy in the Arab Gulf states opened at the end of last month, as well as the opening of the Israeli Consulate in Dubai. Anyone who listened to the speeches will have realized that these events are more than just new diplomatic missions; they embody a new vision of peace. However, numerous challenges remain.
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The importance of Emirati-Israeli peace-building has been highlighted as more than just an agreement. It heralds a new approach to peace. Previous strategies in the region were based on an assumption that there could be no normalization of relations between people without a solution to the Palestinian issue, but this approach has not led to a solution, rather it has made the matter more complicated. Therefore, a different strategy was devised, one of 'warm' peace between people which, alongside diplomatic relations, it is hoped will solve such long-standing, complex disputes.
We must acknowledge that all this came about because the Trump administration thought outside the box and put forward the idea of a peace plan for prosperity. Trump's peace plan was based on the Oslo agreement and a two-state solution, yet it did not find acceptance among the Palestinians. So how can President Joe Biden do better than Trump?
The biggest challenge to the peace process is that Biden has hinted that the Palestinian issue and the Abraham Accords are not among his top priorities, that there are other issues that are more pressing such as COVID-19 and the Iran nuclear deal. As for the Palestinian issue, he has said he will return it within the previous solution, the two-state solution, but how will it be accomplished when the Palestinian leadership is divided? Gaza and Ramallah are under different leadership and their differences in position and approach will make a two-state solution difficult; civil war is more likely.
During the Donald Trump era Israel made peace with four Muslim countries and we saw progress, especially between the UAE and Israel, in terms of the economy, security and scientific fields, furthering warm peace among people. However, the Biden administration, especially after it suspended the Abraham Fund, will struggle to expand these peace agreements with other countries in the region. As a result, this requires a doubling of efforts on the part of the Israeli government and the rest of the Abraham Accords countries.
Nevertheless, the challenge for the new Israeli government is for it to include a coalition of parties on the left, center and right as well as Arab parties, whose different stances have meant it has been difficult to take major steps on critical international issues such as relations with the Palestinians. Likewise, the Israeli government, being new, still wants to show the US administration that it is capable of responding to its requirements, especially with regard to gaining the confidence of the Palestinians.
Returning to square one by acquiescing to the two-state solution project without emphasizing the aforementioned challenges will only complicate the peace process. Therefore, the least that the new Israeli government can do is to urge the US administration to support the Palestinian youth leadership, because there will be no solution under an old divided Palestinian leadership that is not serious about agreeing or contributing to any solution. Moreover, it will be an additional challenge if peace agreements with other countries in the region are conditional on peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
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