Abraham Accords
 Abraham Accords  (agreement)   | |
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| Trump administration policies designed to sidestep Palestinian rights, consolidate Israel’s apartheid rule, and strengthen authoritarian governments in the region will not bring about peace, but its opposite. |
The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalisation signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on 15 September 2020. Mediated by the United States, the initial announcement of 13 August 2020, concerned only Israel and the United Arab Emirates before the announcement of a follow-up agreement between Israel and Bahrain on 11 September 2020. On 15 September 2020, the official signing ceremony for the first iteration of the Abraham Accords was hosted by the Trump administration at the White House. As part of the dual agreements, both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recognised Israel's sovereignty, enabling the establishment of full diplomatic relations.
Background
Israel's initial agreement with the United Arab Emirates marked the first instance of Israel establishing diplomatic relations with an Arab country since 1994, when the Israel–Jordan peace treaty came into effect. The Abraham Accords were signed by Bahraini foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani and Emirati foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan vis-à-vis Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with American president Donald Trump as a witness. They were negotiated by Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner and Kushner's assistant Avi Berkowitz.
The official long-form document titles of the separate agreements for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were, respectively: Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalisation Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel and Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations. The name of the Abraham Accords is rooted in the common belief of the Abrahamic religions — particularly Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — regarding the role of Abraham as a spiritual patriarch.
Morocco and Sudan join
On 22 December 2020, the Israel–Morocco normalisation agreement was signed. In exchange for Morocco's recognition of Israeli sovereignty, the United States recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. On 6 January 2021, following up on the Israel–Sudan normalisation agreement (signed in October 2020), the government of Sudan signed the "Abraham Accords Declaration" in Khartoum, witnessed by American treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin. Though the process of full normalisation is ongoing, the United States has incentivised the deal by agreeing to abolish Sudan's status as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism" while also providing a loan of US$1.2 billion to help the Sudanese government clear the country's debts to the World Bank. Although Sudan signed the declarative section of the agreement, it did not sign the corresponding document with Israel, unlike the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. As of February 2023, negotiations with the Sudanese government on full normalisation with Israel were ongoing.
Bahrain backs out
On 2 November 2023, in view of the ongoing Israel–Hamas war, Bahrain said in a statement that the Israeli ambassador had left Bahrain, that Bahrain had recalled its ambassador to Israel, and suspended all economic relations with Israel, citing a "solid and historical stance that supports the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people."[1]
References
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