Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the sham peace treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is that so many Jews have fallen for what amounts to a clever Arab ruse, first popularized by the late Anwar Sadat. As I noted in a recent article, Sadat’s template for Israel’s “phased destruction” was meticulously detailed in Paul Eidelberg’s book, “Sadat’s Strategy”. Menachem Begin failed to heed the warning.
Ironically, this accord is being celebrated by many who self-identify as right- wing, whereas many on the left (particularly many left-wing American Jews) are lambasting it. Anyone with common sense knows that they would be celebrating such a deal if it was brokered by Barack Obama. With the promise of F35s explicitly guaranteed! Such people suffering from the new malady called TDS react instinctively to anything Trump does with a contrary position. Yet opposing this deal because the left is attacking it does not make it a right-wing position. It simply shows that there are few principled right wingers in Israel.
Sadat’s strategy lives on. Today, the smartest Arab nations follow Sadat’s blueprint. Bahrain and the UAE are the latest to join the club. They have learned a valuable lesson: Say nice things (that you do not truly mean) and win valuable prizes from the US and Israel.
Until his assassination, Sadat bragged how he received the Sinai, oil, weapons, etc., whereas “poor Menachem” only received a piece of paper. Sadat was correct. As of the early 1980’s, Egypt had already abrogated every clause of the treaty short of total war. Begin had a piece of paper. Today, Egypt has a powerful modern military. As we saw several years ago, the Muslim Brotherhood has deep roots in Egyptian society, and they will rear their head again one day. We have not seen the last of them. But Israel has a piece of paper.
We Jews are the living embodiment of Santayana’s warning about the failure to learn from history. We gain nothing from peace treaties with unstable Arab/Islamic nations. We gain a piece of paper with signatures. Our enemies gain everything.
From a superficial perspective, the downside of the most recent accord does not seem as egregious (since no actual physical land concessions occurred) as past deals with Egypt, Jordan, and the PLO. Yet by caving to Arab demands, Israel delegitimized our moral God given rights and impeded the necessity and moral obligation to annex ALL our liberated territories, independent of “permission” from the US. Arab politicians and powerful Arab personalities involved in the accord all insist that sustained peace requires ‘justice for the Palestinians’.
As this article from the Arab Times makes clear, Arabs expect Israel to give up land and remain committed to an independent Palestinian state. Even among Arabs supporting the accord, anti-Israel bias is apparent. The Arab businessman who penned the article above supports the accord, and yet he cannot hide his Jew hatred. In his eyes, Jews (Israelis) reacted aggressively in the past for one reason: because ‘they could’, and he is shockingly glib in his claim that Israel historically reacts to Hamas violence with disproportionate force. This is a common refrain among friendly Arabs. They do not like to see Jews defend themselves. There is a moral equivalency right out of Sodom expressed here, where victims of murderous attacks are demonized for fighting back.
Do we really need such friendships with those who would demand that we amputate our limbs for the promises of thieves and liars? We concede principle and security and they get weapons. And all they have to do is open their hotels to Israelis, open a Chabad house or two, and start serving badatz. In return, the UAE receives sophisticated weaponry from the U.S., despite repeated assurances that this deal is not about weapons.
What a grisly joke. They are dying for F35’s and I believe they will ultimately get them. And if they get them, what will Bahrain do? The Saudis? Not only is this accord dangerous because treaties with Arab/Islamic countries are unstable, it will start an arms race with Arab countries. None of this benefits Israel.
Facebook Fools & Twitter Twits
Facebook and Twitter are flooded with the sentiments of giddy lemmings who clamor after the world’s love. You can hear the squeals of delight from these online activists who jumped aboard the Abraham Bandwagon, even though an analysis of what we do know about the accord is reason enough to sound the alarm.
UAE ambassador, Al Otaiba, explicitly stated his position in the following video. He is polished, so many will miss his thinly veiled warnings to Israel, should Israel stray from the two-state solution.
In an article in Yedioth Ahronoth, Otaiba warned about the consequence of annexing land.
“Annexation will certainly and immediately upend Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and with UAE.”
In case the point was lost in the legalistic jungle of diplomatic verbiage and machinations, he clarified UAE support for the “Palestinians”:
“All the time, we remain an ardent advocate for the Palestinian people and a long-time champion of the Arab Peace Initiative.”
And then there was this, which showed UAE support for a “Palestinian state”:
“If you proceed in that direction, you get into a very negative spiral and it becomes very difficult to pull yourself away from and makes the two-state solution even more elusive.”
Translation: ‘Don’t you dare annex anything or declare sovereignty. These are lands that will be part of a future Palestinian State.’
Should Israel annex the liberated lands, these deals will wither away overnight.
I am under no illusion that the UAE or any Arab country care about “Palestinians”. This is shrewd political artifice in an anti-Semitic Arab/Islamic world where many players reject diplomacy on principle, even if it is merely a tactical mask. Yet no Jew with a spine and Torah values, should support such a deal.
The UAE is now citing the accord as proof that we can trust them. I trust them. I have full confidence that they will bite us the moment we look away. Or the moment we act in our best interest which is no interest of theirs. They want F35 fighter jets, and if they do not receive them, they will show us their faces. Remember! Arab/Islamic societies can crumble overnight.
Many of the same personalities that allow “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, and other antisemitic tracts to be distributed during the UAE’s famous annual book fairs in Sarjha, are now celebrating the deal for political reasons. The same faces who laugh at antisemitic caricatures of hook-nosed Jews on Arabic TV are lecturing us about conditions for maintaining peace. Jews who partake of such a ruse display weakness towards dictators. It is the Jewish Achilles heel. The belief that you can prevent violence by acting decent towards indecent people. The peace of appeasement which leads to the grave.
Many in our own camp insist that this isn’t about F35’s. Listen to the Gulf dictators themselves. Read the news. They understand that sharpened scimitars are not enough today. True military prowess comes from the skies.
The Peace Train
Are you still giddy about the Abraham Accords? Do you still want to visit the UAE? Perhaps you think that I am just some biased zealot, who cannot accept a new Middle East? To such people I want to emphasize that it is not a new Middle East. This is Sadat’s strategy. Tell me: Will you vacation in the UAE and travel to Sarjah, the third largest and most populous region in the Emirates? If so, will you drive your rental car on the infamous “Intifada Road”, or any other street in the Emirates named after shaheeds who murdered Jews?
I doubt one in a hundred Jews understands what I just wrote. Do some research. The Emirates have streets named after those who murdered Jews. Of course, these and other unsettling tidbits are not easy to find these days. Much like the nuances of their penal code, the UAE is great at hiding things that might be troublesome to western sensibilities (The ADL is not likely to do a serious expose on residual antisemitism in the UAE.)
One would think that requiring the UAE to re-name streets honoring Jew killers would be a prerequisite for peace. Kind of like demanding that they stop funding Hamas terror via donations to UNWRA. Wait until Israel is forced to do what it should have done long ago. Destroy Hamas and retake Gaza. How will the UAE and Bahrain handle that?
Alas my standards for peace appear to be too high.