Writing the next chapter of the Abraham Accords

Learn from the past 'mistakes', set the course for "people's peace"

The Abraham Accords, which brought about normalisation and a quick warming of relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, can easily be seen as a silver lining in an otherwise challenging year, as the world was beset by the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis. The Accords not only open new relations between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, but also triggered movement towards normalisation between Israel and Sudan and the formalizing of ties between Israel and Morocco. Surely the region is positively transforming before our very eyes.

Forty-two years ago, the late president of Egypt Anwar Saadat called upon the sons of Abraham to lay down their arms and seek peace. Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, he uttered "Let us put an end to wars. reshape life on the solid basis of equity and truth."

Fifteen years later, Jordan became the second Arab nation to forge peace with Israel. The 1990s brought hope that more would happen on the Palestinian front with the launch of the Oslo Accords. But hopes quickly faded when radical actors including Islamists and non-Arab powers like Iran took advantage of the Oslo to extend their destabilising influence throughout the region. The peace treaties between Egypt, Jordan, and Israel marked the beginning of an era of hope for Israelis and Arabs alike - but the coldness of that peace shows that we have much work ahead of us.

We saw other moments of hope, such as the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002 and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's offer of a two-state solution in 2008 - but those did not alter the reality. Indeed, the last decade was one of turmoil, instability, and civil war throughout much of the region. It is in this context that the announcement of the Abraham Accords caught the attention of those who still hoped for peace, and also of a new generation that did not know hatred and war.

The treaties signed in 1979 and 1994 offer a cautionary tale. While they ended the state of war between regional rivals, they were ultimately non-aggression pacts signed between governments that never materialised into a "people's peace". To be clear, the cooperation between Egypt and Israel, and between Jordan and Israel, on a governmental level, remains strong and crucial to regional stability. However, the absence of a "people's peace" (and the credence given to anti-normalisation voices) creates a significant void, which prevents the region from moving forward.