In a surprising announcement, Iran and Saudi Arabia announced a resumption of relations (which were severed in 2016) and a return of ambassadors, which will take place in two months at the latest. The announcement was surprising both in its timing and in the identity of the mediator – China. The move reflects Beijing’s increased involvement in the Gulf and strengthens its position vis-à-vis the United States in the region. While the US administration welcomes the decline in tensions in the Gulf and seeks to continue efforts to...
Current Situation – States’ respective considerations on willingness to advance relations with Israel · Core components determine ability to progress | Current Israeli Strategy – Strengthen normalized relations and leverage the Abraham Accords toward additional relationships · Cultivate quiet relations with additional countries | Israel’s Strategic Gap – Conception that “what was is necessarily what will be” – positive linearity · Incomplete acknowledgment that the Palestinian issue impacts relations ·...
The recently opened Beit Yehouda Jewish museum in Tangier is a prime example of Morocco’s commitment to Judeo-Islamic coexistence. The kingdom embraces its Jewish heritage for an array of historic and contemporary economic and other reasons that attest to its pluralistic image. At the same time, Israel-Morocco ties are also influenced by King Mohammed VI’s religious role and his commitment to advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To foster the encouraging trends in the relations with Morocco, the new Israeli...
August 13, 2022 marked the second anniversary of the historic announcement of the Abraham Accords, following many weeks of rushed, clandestine diplomatic efforts. Within four months of the announcement, Israel signed diplomatic agreements with four countries. Progress to date has been systematic and rapid, and the overall picture is optimistic and promising. Nevertheless there are many remaining challenges, and there is still a long way to go before the potential of the Accords is fully realized. Civilian spheres with great actual...
Morocco’s development needs, combined with the ambitions of Israeli companies to expand beyond the domestic market, can make cooperation beneficial to the two countries in both the economic and the diplomatic sphere. It can also advance their interests with countries in Western and Central Africa.
The Negev Summit focused on images: The countries whose representatives took part in the meeting sought to convey a message of joint organizing for facing shared challenges. The United States also sought to demonstrate a commitment to its allies in the Middle East and to the region’s stability by attending the summit. But in practice, the region’s countries cannot prevent the finalizing of a renewed nuclear agreement with Iran and, apart from Israel, they are deterred from confronting Iran militarily; the Houthis continue to launch...
The strategic assessment for Israel for 2021 is shaped by significant uncertainty in three principal areas: the level of success in coping with COVID-19; the modus operandi and policies of the new administration in the United States; and the political developments in Israel. The current assessment is based on a broader conception of national security, which places greater weight than in the past on the domestic arena and on threats to internal stability, social cohesion, values, and fabric of life. This of course does not detract...
Egypt has recently shown growing openness to closer ties with Israel, based on shared economic interests, mainly in the fields of energy, trade, and tourism. This trend reflects Egypt’s economic agenda and the supportive regional climate created by the Abraham Accords. Since the mid-1980s Egyptian professional unions have been at the forefront of the opposition to normalization with Israel, and some continue to resist closer civilian ties between the two peoples. So far their position has not hindered rapprochement between the...
The four agreements and declarations achieved in 2020 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, respectively, represent a breakthrough in the regional peace process, and perhaps even an opening for other Arab and Muslim countries to join the process of normalization with Israel. This paper assesses the importance of these agreements for Israeli national security in the broadest sense, and recommends a series of measures for enhancing the existing accords and extending normalization to other...
The Abraham Accords represent a substantial achievement for Israel. At the same time, the potential for improving both Israel’s strategic position and its response to the challenges it faces has not been fully realized. The shared regional threat from Iran was, and remains, the primary motive for the Abraham Accords. This drive, however, has lost momentum with the change in United States policy under the Biden administration. Inter alia, it seems that the US is far less willing to provide security and economic rewards to the...
