Abraham Accords foster a new regional architecture for the Middle East
In these challenging times, it is natural to seek out beacons of hope and optimism.
Ran Yaakoby, Ambassador of Israel, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, Rashed Matar Sultan Alsiri Alqemzi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates
Today we can focus on a beacon that is lighting the path to a better future in the Middle East. Two years ago, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the US-brokered peace and normalisation agreements known as the Abraham Accords.
The 15 September 2020 ceremony on the White House lawn was a historic event, one with the potential to transform the Middle East. On its anniversary, we celebrate the Accords themselves along with the remarkable achievements accomplished in just two years.
For years, Israel worked behind the scenes to build clandestine diplomatic and economic relations with other moderate states in the region. It took wisdom to ultimately recognise that Israel is an integral and permanent part of the Middle East with much to contribute to its stability and prosperity. It took vision to prioritise the future and see what connects the peoples of the region. It took courage to accept that peace is not the shameful compromise that hostile elements claim it to be, but rather a victory for everything that is good in humanity.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid drove home the importance of this paradigm shift during his remarks alongside President Biden in Jerusalem when he said that the Middle East has a new “alliance of moderate countries that believe in peace, that believe that our children deserve the opportunity to live a better life”.
The Accords are strengthening bonds between nations and peoples. Warm relations filtered down from national leaders to every aspect of society and are now thriving between our peoples and nations. Since the first direct flight between Tel Aviv and Dubai in November
2020, over 500,000 Israeli tourists and businesspeople have visited the UAE and Bahrain, connecting peoples and cultures like never before. Israel also presented a national pavilion at the 2020 Dubai Expo, whose theme of “Journey for Tomorrow” could not have better represented the symbol of our hopes for new relations.
A shining example of the new moderate alliance that the Abraham Accords fostered in the Middle East was the establishment of the Negev Forum. The first-of-its-kind Negev Summit was held at Sde Boker in March 2022, when then Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hosted the US Secretary of State and the foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Egypt which led to the establishment of the regional architecture, the “Negev Forum”. The “Negev Forum” is based on six multilateral working groups in the fields of clean energy, education and coexistence, food and water security, health, regional security and tourism. Its purpose is to promote large-scale projects between the member states in order to deal with common challenges while strengthening the ties between the “Negev states” and fostering the fruits of peace in the region.
Israel aspires to continue the regional development that started with the Abraham Accords and to expand the circle of peace and normalisation. Indeed, Israel believes that it can bring about a change in the conflict and establish peaceful coexistence with its most immediate neighbours, the Palestinians, in the spirit of the Accords. After all, peace begets peace. Moreover, the normalisation process serves to effectively consolidate moderate forces in the region in the face of shared threats, providing a counterbalance to Iranian aggression.
As Ambassador of Israel to New Zealand, I have seen firsthand that the impact of the Abraham Accords has reached even as far as New Zealand with the New Zealand Middle East Business Council adding Israel to its countries of focus, joining the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan along with other countries in the region. Additionally, in a recent conversation with Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, His Excellency Rashed Matar Sultan Alsiri Alqemzi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, and I were pleased to hear the Prime Minister express her support of the Abraham Accords. (Please see attached photo of the meeting).
The Abraham Accords represent a decision to build a future together that will benefit all our peoples. They have lit the path to a new hopeful reality in the Middle East, one that will improve the welfare of its population and bring peace, security, and prosperity to all.
The Accords also created exciting opportunities for regional and multinational cooperation in the fields of energy, sustainability, tourism, security, and much more. Thirty-four agreements have already been signed between Israel and the UAE on topics ranging from cooperation in the fields of health and the environment to collaboration in agriculture, water, tourism, and more. Israel has also signed twenty-two agreements with Bahrain thus far, including in the fields of economy, tourism and communications.
Ran Yaakoby is Israel’s Ambassador to New Zealand, Tonga and the Cook Islands and Ambassador-Designate to Samoa.
