Israel and Saudi Arabia could be moving toward closer ties, as the two-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords approach according to the Jerusalem Post. This is an important development because it shows that the legacy and fruit of the accords are continuing to grow.
However, at the same time, there are many challenges in the region. Iran and its proxies are on the march, holding countries hostage, such as Lebanon. That means Israel can’t even come up with a maritime boundary with its northern neighbor, even with the US backing the mediation. Israel’s coalition government chaos and tensions with the Palestinians also threaten to do some harm to Israel-Arab relations.
In early July 2020, during the pandemic, the first hints of Israel-Gulf ties began to show themselves. These hints had been around for a while, as commentators and experts noted that Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain had shared interests. There was also talk of how Israel and Saudi Arabia shared some views in the region.
This historic move by the Gulf was part of a multi-decade process. Israel had some relations with Gulf countries in the 1990s. In addition, Saudi Arabia had floated a peace proposal in the early 2000s. However, it stipulated that the Jewish state would have to withdraw from the West Bank in order to achieve peace. FULL REPORT
