DISCERN | MARCH/APRIL 2021

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The stalemate in the Arab-Israeli peace process has been broken by a chain of peace declarations between ancient enemies. Where will the historic accords lead?

Abraham Accords

O

n Sept. 15, 2020, a historic peace initiative was signed by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was the first of the Abraham Accords, named after the biblical patriarch honored by all three of the monotheistic religions founded in the Middle East— Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The treaties recognize the Jewish and Arab peoples’ common ancestry; accept that Jews, as a people and a faith, are indigenous to the Middle East; and establish normal relations between the countries.

Photo: iStockphoto.com

New road map to peace

At the White House signing, U.S. President Donald Trump pronounced it a historic moment for the region. “After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East,” he said. “This is,” added the president, “peace in the Middle East without blood all over the sand.”

LifeHopeandTruth.com

The new blueprint for peace was set up by a number of moves that geopolitical experts initially dismissed as ghastly blunders that would destroy the American role in Middle East peace negotiations. Breaking radically with the diplomacy of his predecessors, President Trump boldly displayed a fusion with Israel and cut funding to chronically antiWestern and anti-Semitic organizations that supported terrorism, while simultaneously highlighting the key role of regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia during his initial foreign trip in office. He also became the first serving American president to go to the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2018 and moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

Peace breaks out

Since its inception in 1948, Israel has been locked in a constant struggle with its Arab neighbors. The UAE’s courageous decision to break the ice and be the first

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