The United Arab Emirates and Israel reach Historic Peace Agreement

The United Arab Emirates and Israel Reach Historic Peace Agreement

By Jaskaran Bajwa

In a historic move, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel have agreed to normalize relations between them. This includes full cooperation in business, tourism, travel, scientific information, and diplomacy. While this is a historic move as the UAE is one of the few Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel, this cooperation comes with its own issues, with the main issue stemming from the tense relationship between Israel and Palestine. Both want the same land and use religious and historical reasoning to justify their claims.

At the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the disputed capital of Jeruselum. Jerusalem is the capital of both Israel and Palestine as they both have holy religious sites located on the same land. This complicates things for the UAE as they must have a location for their embassy. This controversy follows the decisive move of United States President Donald Trump to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. While reports claim that the UAE will not locate its embassy in Jerusalem, nothing is set in stone.

The largest advantage of the new peace deal is cooperation against regional threats in the Middle East, the largest threats being Iran and its proxy nations. Iran has held a very negative view of Isreal as the Muslim government of Iran believes that Isreal stole the holy land of Jeruselum from its rightful citizens. This hatred has caused Iran to support the proxy militias in the neighboring countries around Israel by providing funding and weapons.

While this peace agreement is seen as a major step towards peace by the western world, it is also seen as a major setback for the Palestinians. The Palestinians have protested this move made by the UAE and branded them as traitors. Historically, the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf have come to the aid of Palestine as they are all Muslim nations, but this move has made the UAE an outcast. This new peace deal might be the stepping stone other Arab nations need to normalize relations with Israel, such as the nation of Bahrain. The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on other Arab nations not to normalize relations with Isreal. This new deal has forced Abaas to meet with opposing factions such as the leaders of the controversial organizations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

This deal has also been an “achievement” for the Trump Administration. The deal was brokered by Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner. President Trump has said this is a step towards peace in the Middle East, and he hopes other nations in the Middle East will follow in normalizing Israeli relations. He also hopes that this deal will allow Muslims from across the world to have better access to holy sites in Jerusalem. This deal will go down as a victory for the Trump administration especially during a tumultuous election cycle as President Trump faces allegations of voter obstruction.

This new peace deal will go down in history as an achievement for both the Trump Administration and Israel. It is also a much-needed step towards peace in the Middle East as the region descends further and further into chaos due to Iran, Syria, and other militias and terrorist organizations. Depending on your views this deal is seen as either a step in the right direction or a large step backward.