Despite the bloodshed in Gaza, few people have seen the “Abraham Agreement” derailed | Business & Economic News

Away from the ruins of Gaza, where it seems that a ceasefire agreement is being reached. Palestinians mourn the deaths of their loved ones in the 11 consecutive days of Israeli bombing, but plans are still underway to plan the upcoming Israel-Gulf Cooperation Council Chamber of Commerce and the United Arab Emirates. Dubai’s industry.

Last February, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco normalized relations with Israel under the Abraham Agreement, the Chamber of Commerce was established in February.

Driven by the United States, these agreements paved the way for closer security and economic ties between the signatories without resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This decision caused protests, initially when an agreement was reached. Now, the latest escalation of the conflict in decades has made the agreement even more detrimental, as Israel’s violent attack on Gaza has claimed the lives of at least 243 Palestinians, including 66 children.

This sound The condemnation of the “Abraham Agreement” is loud. However, under those public humiliations, others encouraged the Chamber of Commerce to stay the course.

“People call us from the Gulf and Morocco and say:’Be careful, it’s dangerous. For safety’s sake, we hope it can be completed as soon as possible, and we can return to our activities and everything we want to do.

For the believers of the Abraham Agreement, the four-month wave of recognition last year was an ecstatic period.

Israeli tourists flocked to Dubai, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper was illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag, and a direct flight between Tel Aviv and Dubai began. Eitan Na’eh, Head of the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi Recently cited Since normalization, approximately 130,000 Israelis have visited the UAE.

The UAE and Israel have also actively and openly promoted bilateral trade transactions.Last month, the UAE sovereign wealth fund signed a memorandum of understanding Spend 1.1 billion US dollars to acquire Israeli natural gas fields -Since the signing of the agreement, the largest potential transaction.

Now flights between the two countries have been cancelled, and in Bahrain, civil society groups recently signed a letter asking their government to expel the Israeli ambassador.

Cymerman said: “It’s a bit overtime.” “In the Bay Area, they are observing events. They are very, very careful because they know things can change.”

Dilemma and security and economic cooperation

On Friday, Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and fired tear gas at Palestinians.

The UAE condemned the earlier attack on the A-Aqsa Mosque and the urgent expulsion of Palestinian families. Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood. However, please be careful not to clearly mark Israel as an aggressor in the Gaza conflict. This position is in sharp contrast with the broad public opinion in the Arab world.

Eran Lerman, the former deputy national security adviser of Israel and the vice president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said: “So far, the relationship between Israel and the Arab world, especially the relationship between the UAE and Bahrain, has been limited. This fact gives me Left a deep impression.” Jerusalem Institute of Strategy and Security told Al Jazeera.

Those who opposed the “Abraham Agreement” not only pointed to the massacre in Gaza, but also pointed to the violent conflicts between Arabs and Jews within Israel and the deadly protests in the occupied West Bank to prove the failure of normalization.

Ibrahim Al-Assil, a senior researcher at the Middle East Institute, said that although the conflict put the UAE into trouble much earlier than expected, this criticism is wrong.

“Normalization is driven by national security needs and economic aspirations. They did not try to resolve the Palestinian conflict, nor did they.” he told Al Jazeera.

Analysts in the region say that the UAE’s concerns about Iran’s foreign policy and the desire to fight Turkey’s assertion of a more confident position in the Middle East are two factors contributing to normalization.

In recent conflicts, Turkey and Iran have been two Middle Eastern countries criticizing Israeli airstrikes and violence.

But the “Abraham Agreement” goes beyond security issues. Gulf countries like the UAE are eager to differentiate their economies from oil and want to cooperate with Israeli companies (especially in technology and tourism).

However, mainstream public opinion in the Arab world highly criticizes Israel and supports the Palestinian cause. In order to sell the deal, the UAE emphasized the prospect of a new peace brought about by normalization.

UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba (Yousef Al Otaiba) said at a panel meeting hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in February this year that the main purpose of the Abraham Agreement is to prevent Israel from annexing the West Bank and maintaining the two sides. Country solutions live.

He said: “The reason, the way and the time it happened are all to prevent annexation.”

However, as the death toll in Gaza rises, the UAE officials have little to say about the Abraham Agreement and how diplomatic relations can help the Palestinian cause.

The UAE seems to be shifting its focus from this issue to further afield and put more emphasis on bilateral relations with Israel. Emirates has retained its ambassador to Israel.

“To be sure, what is happening in Gaza is a test, but I don’t think it means taking a step back,” Eb.son Kobe, president of the Emirates Policy Center, told Al Jazeera.

Kebby said: “This conflict is now between Palestinians and Israelis, not between Arabs.” He added that recent events have undoubtedly put pressure on the signatories of the agreement.

Although Emirates strictly limits official comments on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, a battle of public opinion is driving this transformation in the UAE, where social media is strictly controlled.

Waseem Yousef (Waseem Yousef), a controversial clergyman and vocal supporter of normalization with Israel, recently wrote on Twitter: “Hamas launched rockets from civilian communities, when responding When Hamas shouted, “Where are the Arabs and Muslims? You have made Gaza a cemetery for innocent people and children.”

Be fired Hamas The rocket was between people’s residence and residence, and when the response appeared, she cried Hamas Yelling where are the Arabs and where are the Muslims?
You did #Gaza A cemetery for innocent people and children!You did #Egypt with #Sinai You burned the flags of most Arab countries and insulted all countries. You didn’t respect anyone and showed no mercy to the children or the elderly in India. #Gaza #Muslim Brothers Popularity pic.twitter.com/daZV6a6sQb

-Dr. Waseem Yousef (@waseem_yousef) May 11, 2021

Al Jazeera contacted the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss bilateral relations with Bahrain and the UAE, but the Ministry declined to comment on the matter.

Taking a more cautious approach to relationships runs counter to the more groundbreaking aspects of the Abraham Agreement.

Egypt and Jordan are the first two Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel. Israel’s official recognition of Israel is mainly maintained at the government level. Today, citizens of these two Arab countries have little interaction with their Israeli neighbors.

On the contrary, the “Abraham Agreement” publicly promoted the interaction between Israelis and Arab citizens of their respective countries.

After the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel, many UAE tourists Be slammed In Jerusalem, Palestinians are not even allowed to pose for photos.

In the short term, the close links between tourism and other sectors may be affected. Leman said that Israelis may be reluctant to visit the UAE due to concerns about their safety in the Gulf countries, noting that “we will need to breathe.”

However, as one of the main driving forces for the normalization of Israel and the UAE, and the cornerstone of the leaders’ desire to build a stronger relationship, the business ties between the two countries may be a key indicator of the durability of the Abraham Agreement.

For the supporters of the agreement, there are reasons to be optimistic. Cymerman said that large-scale business plans are still in progress, and he has not seen the desire of Arab or Israeli businessmen to cancel the deal.

He said: “In general, businessmen are even optimistic because they see that this relationship continues.”

Al-Ketbi said that when Dubai hosts the 2021 World Expo in October, she hopes businessmen from all over the Middle East, including Israel, will participate.

After the bloodshed in Gaza, whether these agreements can change Arab public opinion, or whether they even need to be changed, is another matter. But many people believe that the agreement will not derail.

Assil said: “The Abraham agreements will lose some momentum, but I don’t expect them to change, because the rationality behind the signatories and the goals that promote them still exist, and the signatories have not changed.”