The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 and responsible for normalizing ties between Israel and former opponents, continue to produce scenes unthinkable years ago. In recent weeks, Moroccans and Israelis have announced unprecedented defense cooperation and, at a geopolitical conference in Bahrain, Indonesia’s Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto spoke informally with diplomat Itay Tagner, in a rare dialogue between countries without diplomatic relations.
The interaction between the Israeli and the Indonesian, caught by journalists, fueled speculation about possible adhesions to the political caravan to redesign, in initial steps, the scenario of a persistent conflict. Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan stand out as the first signatories of the agreements.
The betting exchange on new entrants includes Indonesia, Mauritania and Oman. Regarding the Middle East scenario, declared Issawi Frej, Israeli Minister for Regional Cooperation: “Several states in the region are hoping to sign the agreements, and Israel is in contact with almost all of them.”
A member of the Arab community (about 20% of the Israeli population), Frej wants to convince the Palestinian National Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, to embark on the diplomatic move. “The normalization agreements with Arab states, last year, should include the Palestinians,” he observed, in an interview to Kan radio, in Israel.
Affiliated with the leftist Meretz, the ruling coalition party, Frej carries the credentials of an activist for dialogue. He stood out as a tenacious defender of the failed Oslo Accords, signed by Israelis and Palestinians in 1993.
In mid-November, he participated in the ANP’s international donors’ conference in the Norwegian capital, and met with Palestinian leaders such as Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
“Although the conditions for a full diplomatic process may not yet be ready, we must not and cannot remain inert,” Frej spoke in Norway. The Israeli minister, in his task, faces the Palestinian distrust in relation to the Abraham Accords and the resistance of members of the Israeli government to resume dialogue with Abbas, whom they accuse of not being a “reliable partner”.
Sewn in June, Israel’s government corresponds to an ideological kaleidoscope, with eight parties, from right to left, including the Islamic-oriented United Arab List. They joined together to interrupt the hegemony of right-wing Binyamin Netanyahu, which began in 2009.
Programmatic differences did not prevent the take-off of the coalition led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, against the creation of a Palestinian state. However, other government exponents, such as Chancellor Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, advocate a two-country solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
In addition to barriers imposed by the ideological diversity of the Israeli government, Frej’s initiatives to expand the Abraham Accords collide with Mahmoud Abbas’ distrust due to the fact that the diplomatic process has altered a logic that previously predominated in the Arab world: that approximations with Israel conditional on the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Frej’s view of insisting on Palestinian inclusion in the Abraham Accords makes sense. The Middle-Eastern reality is rapidly changing and its redesign must, without a doubt, include the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. One more chance to achieve peace cannot be wasted.
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