A year ago I got a tip that something was going on. It turned out to be a historic breakthrough
About this time exactly a year ago I got a tip from a source who told me something was going on. I was frantically trying to get the White House emissary Avi Berkowitz. He did not answer the phone. No one else in the White House answered the phone, WhatsApp, or e-mail either.
A few hours later I found out that Berkowitz did not answer because he was busy closing the last ends of the Abrahamic Accords along with former US Presidential Adviser Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, and the rest of their team.
The Abrahamic Accords have been the biggest breakthrough in the Middle East peace process in the last 25 years. It was a masterful move that contributed to security, stability, and prosperity in the region.
The Abrahamic Accords would never have happened without the creative and courageous thinking of the UAE Ambassador to Washington Yusuf al-Utayba with the backing of the Crown Prince, Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed, and the rest of the Emirate leadership.
Trump and his team deserve a lot of credit for achieving this historic agreement. His legacy will include making peace in the Middle East.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not initiate the Avraham agreements, but he had a part in preparing the ground for them in the years before that. He added a perception that relations between Israel and the Arab states should be promoted first and foremost and only then try to move forward with the Palestinians. I thought he was unrealistic, but in the test of the result, he was right.
A year after the Abrahamic Agreements it is clear to all that they are a tremendous success. The agreements have changed the lives of millions of people in the region for the better. For the first time since its establishment, Israel has gained legitimacy in the region and Israelis have been warmly received in Arab countries. The fact that the recent war in Gaza did not harm the agreements at all shows that the countries that joined them made a strategic choice and did not enter into a temporary deal out of momentary interests. The agreements gave my children and yours a better future. Thanks to the accords, their present lives are already better.
The Abrahamic agreements are not the end of the road. They are the beginning. This is a process that must continue. Existing agreements need to be strengthened and deepened. New agreements with other countries are within reach. This is a key task for the Israeli government. The Biden administration must put politics aside and not miss this historic opportunity.