What are the Abraham Accords and its Impact on Muslim/Arab Nations?
The Abraham Accords are a series of United States brokered diplomatic agreements launched in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first term as President of America. Such agreements are to normalise relations between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations. The accord was named after the biblical patriarch Abraham, to emphasise the shared roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The accords marked the first formal recognition of Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. In September 2020, the first to sign the accords were the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Bahrain, closely followed by Morocco and Sudan* in late 2020 and early 2021 respectively. *Please note that Sudan’s agreement remains unratified due to domestic and political instability.
At the heart of the accords is the shifting of Middle East foreign policy from a “Peace for Land” model to a “Peace for Peace” paradigm focusing heavily on practical regional growth. As a result of the accord, new avenues for tourism were opened up, including new direct commercial flights and innovation partnerships. Trade relations between the UAE and Israel increased dramatically resulting in a historic Free Trade Agreement.
However, as analysts and experts have been quick to point out due to the on-going Iran/ Israel/ United States conflict that began on February 28th this year, the accords are facing some significant headwinds. Pressure on the Accords has been increased by President Donald Trump, who has publicly demanded that Arab and Muslim nations such as Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia sign up to the Abraham Accords.
President Trump’s demands have faced a political backlash from these nations and have been met with immediate resistance with Pakistan (who are currently mediating between the USA and Iran), explicitly rejecting the proposals by President Trump, especially on ideological grounds. Indeed, Palestinian officials have said they have been betrayed by their Arab counterparts for reaching agreements and deals with Israel without first demanding immediate progress towards the creation of a Palestinian state.
In fact, experts suggest that President Trump has made the signing of the Accords as part of the peace deal that he is negotiating with Iran, and as such has ramped up the pressure on Qatar and Saudi Arabia to sign. This offer by President Trump has so far been met with silence from both Qatar and Saudi Arabia, however, both countries have said they will only recognise Israel if the government agrees to Palestinian statehood. Trump has even gone so far as to say that Iran could also join the accords, but this is highly unlikely as Iran’s regime calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.
However, whether or not Qatar and Saudi Arabia sign the Abraham Accords remains a moot point, as today both US and Israeli fighter jets struck Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and other targets. Meanwhile, President Trump was insisting a deal with Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz is now close, however, recent attacks by the USA and Israel may, experts say, forestall any immediate agreement. Some political commentators suggest that a peace deal is still far away as Iran will never give up their ability to produce nuclear weapons, and as such, the US/Iran/Israel conflict could reignite into a full blown war.
