A wake-up call for Abbas - Oded Granot

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by Oded Granot

One would think that the breakthrough peace deal between the UAE and Israel would inspire the Palestinian leader to rise above rejectionism. But that is unlikely to be the case.

Barring any dramatic last-minute development, the United Arab Emirates will soon become the third Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel, and the only one to actively seek normal relations with is, including the exchange of ambassadors and the fostering of robust trade and tourism ties.

The peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, which ended the era of the two countries' wars with Israel, were also welcomed with small and hesitant normalization steps, but over the years and with the change in monarchs and presidents, relations have boiled down mainly to security ties.

There is little to no civilian exchange and minimal public expression to the little that does take place, and there is no collaborations between companies and businessmen in the private sector.

If the promises made in the statements by Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi prove true, this trend will soon end, and the clandestine security and economic ties between Israeli government officials and private businessmen and their Emirati counterparts, which for more than 20 years have been held under the radar, will now be conducted in public and in broad daylight.

This success has many fathers, and none doubt that the agreement would not have taken place if not for the unique personality of UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the de-facto ruler of the Emirates and the driving force behind the accord.

Bin Zayed has twice named by The New York Times as "the most powerful Arab ruler" and "one of the most powerful men on earth." But his move, bold as it may be, is not on a par with the courage demonstrated in 1979 by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, whose country was the first to ink a peace deal with Israel.

Sadat shattered a monumental psychological and mental barrier by pursing peace with the Jewish state – something he did against the will of his people. He barreled through the Arab League's taboo with respect to forging ties with Israel, and commend himself to painful isolation in the Arab world – all because he placed his country's interests first.

Bin Zayed is in a different place, figuratively and literally. The UAE has no shared border with Israel; no past animosity to overcome; no territorial disputes; and no sweeping public objection to normalizing ties with Israel.

Sadat looked out for Egypt. Bin Zayed, with a staggering fortune and advanced weapon stockpiles, wants peace with Israel to bolster his country's regional and global status and position it as an influential power in both spheres.

Sadat and Bin Zayed do share one common understanding: they both realized that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be allowed to cripple any progress toward a new Middle East.

Iran and Hezbollah's lambasting of the UAE-Israel peace deal is not surprising. This deal bulwarks the defensive wall being built in the Middle East against the "axis of resistance" that seeks to "destroy the Zionist project," and this will only grow stronger when other Gulf states, such as Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia follow in the UAE's footsteps.

The peace deal represents another resounding failure for Iran in its efforts to unite the Arab and Islamist world against Israel, and even the UN Security Council's disgraceful decision not to extend the arms embargo on Iran cannot mitigate Tehran's prolonged failure.

On the other hand, the Palestinian Authority's condemnation of the peace deal is regrettable as it yet again shows that Ramallah will not seize the opportunities that come its way.

If anything, the fact that, as part of the deal, Israel has agreed to postpone its plan to extend sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley is a reason for the PA to relinquish its rejectionism. But they refuse.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be wise to realize that the seismic shifts in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring are not playing in his favor.

Rather than leaning into the "resistance axis" led by Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, Abbas should see the deal with the UAE for what it is – a wakeup call to recognize Israel as the Jewish state and to resume the peace process sans any conditions but the desire for peaceful coexistence.


Oded Granot

Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/a-wake-up-call-for-abbas/

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