Why the UAE Established Relations with Israel

Introduction

The conflict between the UAE and Israel has been going on for very long. The new Abraham Accords mark a turning point in the relationship between Israel and the Arab world. The UAE wants warmer relations with Israel, and Israel has shown that it wants the same. The Abraham Accords have set the stage for an environment of mutual respect and beneficence. The two states have had a working relationship in recent years, stemming from security collaboration. But now the UAE has decided to normalize relations with Israel in the new Abraham Accords overseen by the US Administration. The agreement has as much to do with promoting economic ties as it does with paving the way to deal with political issues between Palestine and Israel. The business interests of the two countries of the UAE and Israel align in many waysfrom the tourism industry to scientific and technological development (Cook, 2020). Additionally, there are political benefits as well: the UAE and Israel will be able to enhance regional security by working together, sharing information, and eliminating threats to peace in the region (Cook, 2020). The UAE and Israel already enjoyed cooperation in the realm of security and intelligence; the Abraham Accords simply formalizes that arrangement and makes it public. This formalization of relations could also open the door for better relations between Palestine and Israelbut it will take some effort on both their parts, as each side has shown itself to be intractable and aggressive.

Palestinian Politicians

The view of Palestinian politicians has been up to now that the Arab world is on their side. This is true to the extent that Arab states donate significant sums to the Palestinian cause. Up until now, the conflict between Palestine and Israel has been a way for Palestinian leaders to raise money. Now the US has signaled that it is interested in boosting cooperation between the Arab States and Israel. By hosting the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE, the US showed that it approved of this new formalized relationship. And as Brown (2018) reports, the United States may go even furtherleading members of Congress haveintroduced legislationdesigned to not only fund Palestinian-Israeli economic cooperation in general but also to specifically require that Israeli settlements in the West Bank be eligible for funding for joint projects. In short, Palestine now finds itself in a new position. Having relied upon monetary support for its cause of independence, the tide is shifting, with the UAE leading the course for a new kind of cooperation in the Middle Eastone that calls not for independence but rather for integration and friendship.

One criticism of the Palestinianleaders and politicians is that they do not negotiate with Israel in earnest: some argue that these leaders might not want to solve the conflict because it is a good money source. Qatar for instance donated $1 billion to the Palestinian cause between 2012 and 2018 (Jesner, 2021). Many Arab states and other countries and organizations donate to Palestine, and this is making certain leaders within Palestine richer and richer, which, some speculate is a big reason they are not trying to make an effort to solve the conflict.

Up until recently, Palestinian leaders had all their fellow Arabs on their side, with the idea no formal relations will start with Israel unless the conflict was resolved. With the Abraham Accords, this understanding is no longer the case. The UAE has taken the first major step in normalizing relations with Israel, and other states have followed suit. This new development means that Palestine no longer has the Arab world...

…in an accord with Israel, which means that the conflict that had existed between Israel and the Arab world is now suddenly taking a new positive turn (Riechmann & Lee, 2020). At a recent UN Security Council (2021), it was remarked that a new approach is definitely needed and that now, with the Abraham Accords, that time is here: We can no longer lurch from crisis to crisis, said Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, underlining the need to avoid approaching the current situation incident by incident as standalone issues, during a quarterly debate. A broader package of parallel steps by the Government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community is needed, he said, adding that such a framework should begin to address key political, security and economic challenges that are preventing progress. Whether Israels leaders will view this opportunity as one worth taking remains to be seenbut already a step in a more positive direction has been taken with the accords between UAE and Israel. It is this step that suggests more steps will follow.

Conclusion

The normalization of relations between UAE and Israel after so many years of conflict between Israel and the Arab world show that a new direction may be coming to the Palestine-Israel conflict. Palestines leaders have relied on the support of the Arab world for decades; the money used to fund Palestinian leaders has flowed for years from Arab states. However, Arab states are now taking a new approach to the problem. Rather than simply sit back and send money to Palestine, they are also reaching out to Israel and looking to see if formalizing relations is a possible solution to peace. The Abraham Accords show that the UAE is willing to collaborate more closely with Israel to create a better…