As we noted with disdain last week, the Biden team’s juvenile resolve never to utter the term Abraham Accords to describe the move by four Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel because Donald Trump came up with it, flew in the face of a fundamental truth about the possibilities for peace in the Middle East: there is much more that unites the cousin Abrahamic nations than divides them – even when you factor in the manufactured rift between Israel and the Palestinians.
Indeed, the fact that opposition to the recent Operation Guardian of the Walls in the general Arab world was just a fleeting blip on the radar in a sense confirmed to us the durability of the notion of kinship underlying the Abraham Accords.
We had suspected that for erstwhile enemies of Israel to have moved towards normalization in the first place, significant reservations had to be overcome; that they would come to treat Israel’s defense of its citizens against a torrent of Hamas rockets as a deal breaker would therefore be highly unlikely.
To put a positive face on it, the Arab nations had already effectively acknowledged that, all things being equal, their future lay in a cooperative relationship with Israel in terms of their economy, industry, technology and agriculture – and given the threat posed by Iran, in terms of their military security as well.
It is something to ponder that in the light of this natural affinity, and the obvious benefits that can accrue from cultivating and nourishing it, why would anyone want to choose to force-fit a relationship between Israel and an unyielding Palestinian antagonist that does not grant it legitimacy?
In any other context this very question would stand out for its fundamental absurdity. Yet calls for Israel to exclusively chase accommodation with its sworn and essentially irrational enemies are still sounded in many quarters. We would urge everyone to sit back and honestly evaluate where the prospect for peace for Jews in the Holy Land really lies. Is it with people who wish to drive them into the sea, or with those who aspire to build their future in partnership with them?
President Biden should focus on the latter and acknowledge that the Middle East is speaking loudly, and it is saying that the unyielding Palestinian animosity towards Israel is holding back the march of progress. Its time they were told to either get with the program or get out of the way.