Where Is The Arab/Muslim-Israeli Normalisation Project Heading? Part 1

Right from the outset, the PLO and its subsequent creation the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) breached the terms of the accords by reneging on its fundamental undertakings by engaging in unprovoked violence followed by terrorism. In 2020, the P.A. repudiated the operational provisions of the accords only to resume them some months later. In the interim the P.A. rejected any and all offers and proposals for peace.

In 2007, two years after Israel as a gesture of goodwill towards peace; disengaged from the Gaza Peninsula; removed all its settlements and settlers and handed the territory to the P.A. the latter lost control of it to the Hamas terror group. In turn, over time, Hamas was joined by other terrorist groups. At present, there are altogether 14 of them operating out of the peninsula.

Following the signing of the first Oslo Accord in 1993, in 1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres approached Jordan’s King Hussein to inquire whether he would consider this development to provide the right time and opportunity to enter into a peace treaty.

Jordan was pressured by President Clinton to enter into peace negotiations which resulted in the signing of first, the Washington Declaration in 1994 followed the same year by the signing of the peace treaty in Israel.

As was the case with Egypt which was rewarded for making peace, President Clinton induced the King to enter into negotiations and sign a treaty by undertaking to forgive Jordan’s voluminous debts to the United States.

Enter President Trump

President Trump and his advisor Jarred Kushner are hailed as diplomatic aces who both initiated and managed to achieve what no other American President or for that matter head of state elsewhere managed to do; namely to inject into the Middle-East the optimistic notion that Arab/Muslim-Israeli relations can be redeemed through peace and normalisation treaties and agreements.

The United Arab Emirate was the first country to sign a treaty with Israel for the normalisation of their relations. The key immediate inducement for the UAE to enter into the treaty was the undertaking of the U.S to enable it to purchase advanced military equipment worth $23 billion including the F-35 aircraft which the Emirate was not permitted to purchase prior to the signing of the treaty.

In turn, the Kingdom of Bahrain chose not to enter into such a treaty. Instead, the Kingdom and Israel signed a Declaration of Peace and of mutual intentions to normalise their relationship in the future. This is due to the fact that while the Kingdom is governed by a Sunni royalty, the Shiite subjects comprise 70% of the population and, influenced by Shiite Iran, is strongly organised in opposition to this Declaration.

Finally, the three countries signed an agreement on future cooperation.