Arab States Sour on Israel Peace Pact as Saudis Pivot to Ukraine Mediation
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies are souring on the prospect of peace deals with Israel, three years after Trump’s Abraham Accords was struck with several states. This comes at a moment the Saudis have pivoted to greater involvement in the Ukraine crisis, as they are hosting an August summit geared toward getting BRICS countries to move toward support of Kiev.
“The United Arab Emirates has expressed frustration in high-level contacts with Israel about the outcome of the 2020 Abraham Accords negotiated under the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, while Bahrain has outlined its disappointment, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Things have been growing more violent and deadly amid clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police this month and in months prior, given policies of the hardline Netanyahu coalition government.
This is putting new pressure on Arab leadership, as Bloomberg points out further: willingness to pause expansion of the Abraham Accords is “largely due to concerns over Israel’s deteriorating relations with the Palestinians — typified by the recent deadly raid on a refugee camp in the city of Jenin and incendiary comments by some far-right Israeli cabinet members.”
Indeed the Saudis have already made their separate peace with Tehran, and Iran-aligned Assad of Syria has been “brought in from the cold” – reentering the Arab League to boot.
Few regional analysts pretend that the Saudi royals are serious about standing up for Palestinians or a dream of an independent state of their own, but what Riyadh does want is White House approval and support for a domestic nuclear energy program, including uranium enrichment. Advanced American weaponry is also a bedrock of the relationship. This is the real quid pro quo behind any potential historic peace with Israel, if it ever does happen.
But recent events in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza threaten to create backlash from among Arab populations against their rulers, making the already risky endeavor of rapprochement and normalization with the Jewish state all the more precarious, and perhaps “not worth it” for the Saudi royals.
