This morning, an actual historic breakthrough in Middle East peace negotiations was announced. With the active mediation of the Trump administration as well as participation by President Trump, Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced that they will be signing a peace treaty with full normalization of relations. There has been a technical state of war between Israel and the emirates since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. The UAE becomes the first arab state to sign a peace agreement since Jordan did that decades ago.
The impact of this deal cannot be overstatted. Most likely, not long after the deal gets signed, there will be follow on deals between Israel and states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the like. It provides a chance for regional peace. President Trump and his administration deserve great credit for mediating this breakthrough.
Following the announcement of the deal, there have been a series of statements that seem astonishing.
1. Joe Biden's campaign issued a release hailing the peace agreement and then trying to take credit for arranging it during the Obama-Biden administration. Unbelievable! Under Obama, US relations with Israel got to their lowest level ever. Obama had zero influence with the Israelis. Meanwhile, Obama also tilted American foreign policy heavily towards the Iranians who are the main enemy of the UAE and other Sunni Gulf states. Obama surrendered nearly all American influence with the UAE as well. That means Biden is claiming credit for this deal even though the Obama-Biden administration nearly destroyed all American influence with both Israel and the UAE. It's the rough equivalent of al Qaeda claiming credit for the new construction at the sire of the World Trade Center since they were the ones who destroyed those buildings in the first place. Biden may be senile, but his staff certainly has no shame.
2. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas both denounced the UAE for making peace with Israel. The PA called it a stab in the back. One thing is certain: the Palestinians do not want peace with Israel
3. Iran also denounced the peace deal. That's not surprising since the Iranians know that when Israel makes peace with the Sunni Gulf states, it will make it harder for Iran to achieve its hegemonic goals in the region.
Another important thing to realize about this peace deal is that it shows that insertion of reality into US foreign policy for the region was productive, contrary to what the so called "experts" said. The USA recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital; the "experts" said the move would prevent peace. The USA recognized the legitimacy of the so called settlements established by Israel since 1967. The experts said this would prevent peace. And now we have peace between the UAE and Israel, a big step on the road towards regional peace. Simply put, the "experts" didn't know what they were talking about. They just didn't like President Trump doing things that were contrary to their advice.
This is a good day for peace.
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