12 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 

PURELY COMMENTARY

opinion

Abraham Accords Represent 
a Groundbreaking Model for 
Mideast Peace

L

ast year’s normalization 
agreements with the United 
Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan 
and Morocco featured all the pomp 
and circumstance you might expect 
— handshakes, verbal affirmations 
of mutual support and photo ops 
reminiscent of past “groundbreaking 
signings” between Israel and its 
neighbors. Naysayers will dismiss the 
Abraham Accords as nothing more 
than flowery declarations of peace and 
cooperation.
But make no mistake: Momentum 
isn’t fading; it’s soaring. Even under 
a Biden administration that has at 
times shown reluctance to perpetuate 
a Trumpian agenda, unprecedented 
agreements continue to be forged in 
this new era of economic prosperity, 
security cooperation and cultural 
exchange that we cannot ignore.
Last year consisted of many firsts, 
including, to name a few, the first 
Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi, the 
first embassy of the UAE in Tel Aviv, 
Israel’s first ambassador to Bahrain and 
Bahrain’s first ambassador to Israel.
The Abraham Accords were not a 
relic of the Trump presidency; they 
have paved the way for a Middle East 
not seen for generations. And now we’re 
seeing recent signatories of the accords 
become brokers themselves.
Earlier this month, Israel and 
Jordan signed a UAE-brokered water 
and energy deal, the most expansive 
of its kind since the two countries 
made peace in 1994. Even U.S. Special 
Presidential Envoy for Climate John 
Kerry, who said in 2016 that there could 
be “no advance and separate peace with 
the Arab world” before first addressing 
Palestinian peace, played a role in 

getting the Amman-Jerusalem deal over 
the finish line.
And in Rabat recently, Israeli Defense 
Minister Benny Gantz formalized 
security ties and intelligence-sharing 
with his Moroccan counterpart, 
Abdellatif Loudiyi, while signing a 
memorandum of understanding that 
is expected to initiate significant arms 
sales worth hundreds of millions of 
dollars over the next few years.
Bilateral trade between Israel and the 
UAE alone has exceeded $700 million 
since the signing of the Abraham 
Accords, according to Israeli Consul-
General in Dubai Ilan Sztulman 
Starosta. Tourism between Israel and 
the UAE is at record highs. And Israel’s 
Reichman University (formerly IDC 
Herzliya) even enrolled the country’s 
first-ever male Emirati student this 
summer, followed by another female 
Emirati studying midwifery in Hebrew 
at Haifa University.
150,000 new jobs are expected to 
be created for Israel’s new regional 
partners, according to the American 
NGO RAND Corporation, with an 
additional four million new jobs and 
a further “$1 trillion in new economic 
activity over a decade, if the accords 
grow to include 11 nations (including 
Israel) as some have speculated may be 
possible.”
If anything, the accords have given 
Israel permission to call its Arab 
neighbors cousins again. What has for 
decades been discreet is now out in the 
open.
Everything about how peace was 
forged this time around — from four 
landmark agreements being reached 
in the space of five months, to the 
business framework through which 

negotiations were held — was different, 
and the hope is that this model can one 
day be extended to Israeli-Palestinian 
peace negotiations that have eluded 
history’s best statespersons and 
diplomats. Indeed, the best brokers for 
lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace may 
very well be not in Washington, D.C., 
but in Manama, Rabat, Abu Dhabi or 
Khartoum.
The accords helped create a model 
of peace that is rarely seen in the 
Middle East — one based not just on 
closed-door diplomacy, but on culture, 
business and deep person-to-person 
friendships. The accords should not 
— and do not — purport to replace 
the Israeli-Palestinian issue, but they 
demonstrate the viability of alternative 
methods of peace-building.
Palestinians and Arab Israelis 
will benefit from these regional 
normalization agreements, and the 
city of Jerusalem can serve as a key 
bridge to the Gulf states since 40 
percent of its population is Arab. The 
hope is that the accords herald a new 
era of Muslim tourism to Jerusalem, 
eventually becoming the research-and-
development heart of the Middle East.
Peace agreements are inked by 
leaders, but they are forged by everyday 
people. Israel and its neighbors are 
now building a model for peace in 
the Middle East, one spearheaded by 
entrepreneurs and environmentalists 
who envision a better region for their 
children. 

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum serves as deputy mayor of 

Jerusalem in charge of foreign relations, international 

economic development, and tourism. She is also the 

co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council and 

the Gulf Israel Women’s Forum. Jonathan Harounoff 

is a British analyst and journalist based in New York. 

FLEUR HASSAN-NAHOUM AND JONATHAN HAROUNOFF JNS.ORG

