How do Israelis feel about the peace deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? Just what exactly did Netanyahu accomplish (besides a few points bump in approval ratings)? Which Arab states might be next in line to make peace with Israel (and which ones won't be)? All the answers are below, courtesy of your Israel tour guide :) But first, if you missed my previous post all about the peace deal with the UAE, click here for that: https://www.tourguideofisrael.com/post/what-to-know-about-israel-s-peace-deal-with-the-uae
Almost 80% of Israelis were happy to make this trade of peace with the UAE in return for not annexing [or "extending sovereignty to"] any areas in Judea and Samaria/the West Bank in the near future. A slight majority did say Netanyahu broke his campaign promise to do so [and they are right]. Most Israelis understand that Netanyahu did something quite impressive - he changed the rules of the game. Here is his statement on that: https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-netanyahu-on-different-uae-deal-palestinians-lost-their-veto-power/
Yossi Klein HaLevi, one of Israel's most talented writers and commentators, gives a very objective and astute look at Israel's situation today, post-deal with the UAE. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/born-of-internal-arab-despair-uae-deal-gives-israel-genuine-chance-of-peace/
Which Arab countries will be next to make peace with Israel? Well, let's not count our chickens before they hatch. The last peace treaty with Israel and a member of the Arab League was signed with Mauritania in 1999 [though Mauritania canceled it after Israel's first war with Gaza in 2008--2009]. Prior to that it was Jordan in 1994, Lebanon in 1983 [see below] and Egypt in 1979. So don't expect anything to happen right away. There are some interested Arab countries, but they probably want to wait and see how much blowback from the "Arab street" this will get. If you want to know who the main contenders are for "who's next," click here: https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/five-countries-that-could-be-next-to-make-peace-with-israel-638821
Kuwait meanwhile said that it will be the last to make peace with Israel, once the Palestinian issue is resolved, which "is consistent with its decades-old foreign policy approach in support of the Palestinian cause." I guess kicking 500,000 Palestinians out of Kuwait after the first Gulf War for supporting Saddam Hussein [because he was lobbing missiles at Tel Aviv] is also "support for the Palestinian cause." I realize that most people probably never heard about that, since Israel had nothing to do with it. https://www.timesofisrael.com/kuwaiti-officials-reject-israel-normalization-reaffirm-support-for-palestinians/
Of all the Arab countries, however, Lebanon will likely be the last to make peace with Israel. Funny, because it was actually the second one to make peace with Israel. Never heard of that story? Back in 1982, Israel and Lebanon essentially signed a peace agreement [the May 17 agreement] which Lebanon abrogated 9 months later due to their own fractured internal politics and civil war. Today with Hezbollah running the show, peace with them is a non-starter. And it has nothing to do with the Palestinians, whom the Lebanese despise [if you want to see real apartheid in the Middle East, see how the Lebanese treat them there], partly due to their involvement in setting off the devastating civil war in Lebanon. https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/why-lebanon-wont-make-peace-with-israel-so-long-as-hezbollah-is-around-638812
As far as the UAE goes...
Our hi-tech community is already salivating at the chance to openly work with the UAE - as opposed to the $1 billion in covert trade that already existed. Here is what the head of Israeli investment platform OurCrowd [whose conference my last Israel tech tour attended this past February], Jonathan Medved , had to say about it: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/ourcrowd-ceo-medved-lauds-abraham-accord-hints-major-breakthrough-ahead-638854
Apparently our first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates may be none other than Israeli pop star Omer Adam [you may know him from Tel Aviv Ya Habibi and Mehapecha Shel Simcha]. Okay, not exactly, but supposedly he has already been invited to perform there. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-pop-star-omer-adam-said-in-talks-to-perform-in-uae/
Palestinians are wondering today how much did Palestinian bogeyman Mohammed Dahlan (now a chief UAE advisor) have to do with this agreement. https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/did-mohammed-dahlan-help-orchestrate-israel-uae-deal-638832
Meanwhile, it appears that the UAE will be taking in the remnants of Yemenite Jewry, who have been suffering due to the civil war, famine and anti-Semitism in Yemen. https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/yemens-remaining-jews-to-be-transferred-to-uae-report-638831
And finally, check out this prayer for the government and armed forces of the UAE by the Jewish community of the UAE (all Jewish communities around the world have such prayers for their local governments as well as for Israel).
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