Israel-Arab peace deal: Is this a new beginning in the world's most volatile region?

 Israel, which emerged in the Middle East in 1948 72 years ago, has been an undesirable neighbor in the region. However, there has been a mixed reaction to their recent peace agreements with various countries in the Middle East, and new regional alignments are expected to emerge in the region. UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif al-Zaini and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on September 15 in the US capital, Washington, in the presence of US President Donald Trump. Signed what is also known as the 'Abraham Agreement'. Some reaction to these agreements was quite natural and expected. He was condemned in the Palestinian territories and by Iran and its allies in the region, while Egypt welcomed the development.

But the reaction from other countries was unexpected. Jordan, which has in the past signed a peace deal with Israel, reacted cautiously, while Syria, which has close ties to Iran, remained silent on the issue. However, the most interesting reaction came from the countries that were said to follow suit. US President Donald Trump, speaking at the signing ceremony, expressed confidence that at least five or six Arab countries would soon sign an agreement with Israel. He later told the media that Saudi Arabia would announce a compromise in due course. The response from Saudi Arabia was very vague. But a different story was told in the Saudi media. One thought is that Saudi Arabia's real enemy is not Israel, but Iran. Below, BBC Monitoring takes a closer look at the Arab response, which is being hailed as historic and is said to have marked a new beginning in the world's most volatile region.

The UAE was the first Gulf state to officially announce the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel on August 13, after decades of covert relations between Israel and the Gulf states. The two countries have been showing signs of rapprochement for two consecutive years, after which this development has come to the fore. The UAE has long had a very aggressive and active foreign policy in the region. It is increasingly playing a role in regional conflicts, but often in secret. In Libya and Yemen, for example, it is active in preventing extremist groups and Iran from expanding their influence. The UAE's decision to normalize its relations with Israel will be seen in the context of the same foreign policy priorities that seek strong allies to counter Iran's growing influence. The UAE has also sought to use the agreements with Israel to raise its profile in the region, with UAE officials and the media claiming that the agreement with the UAE led to the Golan Heights. Has abandoned its intention to annex the occupied territories to Israel.

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed has said the agreement will change the heart of the Middle East. Within a month, when Bahrain announced that it would follow in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates and establish relations with Israel, many observers said that the UAE had funded the small state of Bahrain to do so. ۔ The situation in Bahrain is different. The majority of the population in Bahrain belongs to the Shiite sect, while the rulers belong to the Sunni sect and the country has been in turmoil for some time. For the state's Sunni rulers, the situation was not only a hindrance to Israel's relationship, but also a major reason, as Iran's influence on the country's opposition was a clear and real threat to Bahrain's rulers. The country's Shiite population is strongly opposed to the agreement with Israel, and it has been openly expressed. In the Arab world, Bahrain had the largest public protests and demonstrations in many places in this small country. Despite years of behind-the-scenes relations with Israel and visits to Doha by Israeli officials, Qatar's Deputy Foreign Minister Lola al-Khatir said in a statement to Bloomberg News on September 14 that Qatar has so far maintained relations with Israel. Will not establish until the issue of Palestine is resolved. According to Qatar's Al-Sharq News Agency, the Deputy Foreign Minister added that he would not establish relations with Israel in imitation of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Despite all this, Qatar has been playing an active role in the Palestinian issue and has been providing financial support to the Palestinian extremist group Hamas in order to prevent the situation in Gaza from deteriorating.Oman has not officially established relations with Israel, but has distanced itself from the Gulf and Arab countries on the issue of relations with Israel, and has maintained close and open relations with Israel for many years.

A clear example of this is the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Oman in 2018, during which he also met with the then Emir of the state Sultan Qaboos, who passed away in January 2020. Oman has also been a mediator in the affairs of Arab and Gulf countries, and is one of the few Arab countries to have ties with Iran. The Sultanate of Oman has historically pursued an independent and sovereign foreign policy aimed at balancing its relations in the region. His stance will not result in a peace deal with Israel.

Kuwait is probably the only Gulf state to stick to its policy of not establishing any relations with Israel until the Palestinian issue is resolved amicably.

Due to the large number of Palestinian immigrants in Kuwait and the presence of a relatively strong opposition, it announced that it was taking a stand on the Palestinian issue, contrary to the changing thinking of Arab and Gulf rulers in the region about Israel. Will remain and will not change. Kuwait's foreign policy is similar to Oman's and may be allowed to continue.

But there is also a strong possibility that its Gulf neighbor and its largest ally and most powerful country, the United States, will eventually agree to have relations with Israel in one form or another. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are Saudi Arabia's closest allies. Their ties were further strengthened, especially in 2017, when the three countries jointly announced sanctions against Qatar. After the UAE and Bahrain signed an agreement with Israel, speculation intensified that Saudi Arabia would be the next country to establish relations with Israel. The speculation was also prompted by hints from Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel, but there was no clear response from Saudi Arabia to the latest developments. Saudi Arabia reacted for the first time at the official level a week after the signing of agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in August, with its foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan, saying he stood by the Arab peace plan and On that basis, he will stick to his position of bringing peace to the region. The Arab Peace Plan, also known as the Saudi Arabian Peace Plan, was approved by the Arab League in 2002. Under the agreement, all members of the Arab League, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have vowed not to establish any relations with Israel until the Palestinian issue is resolved amicably. The peace plan stated that Israel would be recognized only if it vacated all the occupied territories it had occupied after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and an independent Palestinian territory. A state whose capital is not ready to establish East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abdul Jubeir told Saudi-funded Al Arabiya TV that there should be peace with Palestine before normal relations with Israel could be established. A similar ambiguous response was echoed by bin Farhan in his first official statement on the agreements with Israel. In a statement issued after the cabinet meeting on September 15, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reiterated its commitment to continue supporting the Palestinian people and to continue its efforts to implement the Arab peace plan. I did not mention any agreements with Israel. Earlier, on September 2, bin Farhan assured that the Saudi position on the Palestinian issue had not changed. This comes after Saudi Arabia allowed flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to use Saudi airspace. Despite careful official statements, derailment is nothing new for the Saudi monarchy. Muhammad bin Salman sought to bring about change in the country's most conservative and religious society, including allowing women to drive. The attitude of the Saudi media has also been very interesting. Initially, Bahrain welcomed the announcement of a rapprochement with Israel, but later adopted a more balanced tone when the signing ceremony took place. The Al-Arabiya TV channel was in favor of the agreements, emphasizing that the agreements would bring stability to the region. Positive comments continued to be published on. They focused on two things. Talking about Saudi Arabia's strong stance on the Palestinian issue in the past, observers have been seen complaining about the Palestinians not acknowledging this position properly.He also sought to emphasize that relations with Israel are important in order to deal with the real threat to the region from Iran. "Our real enemies today are Turkey and Iran, which occupy the Arab territories in the name of Palestine," he said. Morocco is likely to make a similar announcement. The news echoed in the Moroccan media, with a French-language newspaper in Morocco saying Morocco was also a candidate for a deal with Israel. There have also been mixed signals from Moroccan authorities using pro-government media rather than state media.

In August, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad al-Othmani was seen walking away from his past statements in an interview with a pro-government website in which he strongly opposed establishing relations with Israel. He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture, and that his confession had been obtained through torture. According to the latest reports, a website, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, has denied rumors that Morocco is about to launch direct flights with Israel. Despite not having any diplomatic relations with Israel, Sudan was included in the list of countries that were likely to establish relations with Israel.

The main reason for this was the government's desire to end the country's economic isolation and gain access to the international financial system through loans and investments. So it came as no surprise that the United Arab Emirates-based Arab Sky News Arabia TV reported on August 18, quoting Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Haider Badawi al-Siddiq, that Sudan was also considering an agreement with Israel. Is. Despite speculation about a rapprochement with Israel, Sudan distanced itself from the Foreign Ministry spokesman's statement, which was also welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What was Khartoum fired the spokesman the next day. Following the incident, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sudan with the aim of putting pressure on Arab countries to establish relations with Israel.

During the visit, Mike Pompeo also met with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk, in which Abdullah Hamdouk made it clear to the US Secretary of State that his government was in place for a transitional period and had the authority to make such decisions. do not have.

It was natural for Sudan to receive such vague signals, as relations with Israel are critical. Sudan had a strong anti-Israel stance during the previous regime of Omar al-Bashir, calling Muslims its worst enemy.

Decades before the Gulf states changed their stance on Israel, wars between some Arab countries and Israel resulted in peace agreements with Israel.

Egypt's historic 1979 peace treaty, the first by any Arab country to be signed with Israel, was then unanimously rejected by the Arab world and strongly condemned. It was boycotted by Egypt's neighbors and Egypt's membership in the Arab League was suspended from 1979 to 1981. Despite paying a heavy price for the agreement with Israel, Egypt stood by the agreement, especially at the official level, and that is why it welcomed Israel's agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was the first leader to congratulate Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, calling the agreements "historic" and saying they would pave the way for a solution to the Palestinian problem. Jordan is one of the countries that has signed an agreement with Israel, known as the 1994 Arab Valley Agreement. That is why Jordan's response to the UAE and Bahrain's agreements with Israel was not so warm. King Abdullah II remained silent while his Foreign Ministry statement remained cautious. Jordan's response urged Israel to refrain from taking steps that would complicate a two-state solution. Jordan also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Foreign Minister Ayman al-Saddafi said that the outcome of these agreements depends on Israel's future actions and whether Israel continues its expansionist plans.

Maintaining peace with Israel is very important for Jordan in terms of defense, politics and economy. King Abdullah II has repeatedly opposed President Trump's 'Deal of the Century'. King Abdullah has been angered by Netanyahu's announcement of annexing large parts of West Jordan and the Jordan Valley to Israel.Naturally, Palestinian leaders have condemned the agreements with Israel, calling them a betrayal of Palestinian sacrifices. Palestinian militants have also staged demonstrations in the Gaza Strip. Two rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza at the time the agreements were being signed in Washington. In response, Israel launched airstrikes on Gaza. The Palestinian Authority in West Jordan on September 15 rejected the notion that the agreements would help bring peace. The Palestinian Authority added that peace could not be established unless Israel and the United States recognized a separate Palestinian state and the right of Palestinian refugees to return. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the leadership of his political opposition, Hamas, have agreed to agree on a deal with Israel. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said he would not allow the Palestinian issue to be used as a bridge to establish relations with Israel and ignore the rights of the Palestinian people, their right to return to Jerusalem and the occupied territories. Be done As Israel's longtime enemy in the region, it was not surprising that Iran and its allies condemned the agreements with Israel. While many governments were completely silent about it. Both Lebanon's Shiite group Hezbollah and Syria's Ba'ath party have strongly condemned the agreements, calling them "deceptions" and deviations from the Palestinian cause. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the agreements a stabbing in the back of the Palestinians. The Ba'ath party called the agreements an attack on the status and permanence of the entire Arab nation. All this is reflected in the statement of the self-styled Houthi rebel government in Yemen, which warned that the Arab governments that are going to establish relations with Israel do not represent the Arab people and will have to pay a heavy price. ۔ Lebanon's pro-Hezbollah newspaper Al-Khabar reported that Bahrain's al-Khalifa royal family had come to negotiate a deal with Israel at the request of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Houthi rebel leader Abdullah Malik al-Houthi also said the decision by Bahrain was not surprising given its close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The two countries, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are two key players in the alliance's involvement in the 2015 war in Yemen. Despite being a staunch opponent and enemy of Israel and a close ally of Iran, the pro-Syrian opposition newspapers specifically noted that Damascus remained silent on peace agreements with Israel. Political analyst Naga Hassan al-Najafi told a newspaper that Syria's silence on the Bahraini government's agreement was due to the fact that it could not take clear action against Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates because the Syrian government Have had a good relationship with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates opened their embassies in Syria in 2018, prompting an observer to say that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not oppose the two countries because they have been helping to prolong their rule.