# Israel-UAE Agreement **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 13, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031 "2020-08-13T23:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/41 "2020-09-13T13:57:07Z")
So much of what Trump has tried to do has or will be undone by constitutional courts. But in fairness, Trump has introduced a few positive changes. Many will disagree, but the Middle East is moving towards quasi-stability. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/42 "2020-09-15T00:39:57Z")
Kosovo and Serbia are opening embassies in Jerusalem. Saudi Arabia has said they will allow regular overflights between Israel and the UAE. The Palestinian Authority, having gotten zero traction from the Arab league after their complaints, have even rescinded their opposition to the deal. Amazing. Trump may be an ass, but he started no wars in his first term, withdrew U.S. soldiers from several places, and now it looks like his administration may preside over the biggest re-alignment for peace in the Middle East since the Egyptian/Israeli peace deal in 1979. Trump may actually deserve those Nobel nominations he’s gotten from Norway and Sweden. I would never have thought it possible. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/43 "2020-09-15T05:38:38Z")
Look, I’m perfectly happy with the agreements with the UAE and Bahrain. I’m not going to complain about them. However, I can’t agree with the rest of your post. For one, it certainly isn’t the biggest re-alignment for peace since 1979 - the Oslo Agreement aside, the 1994 peace with Jordan was a much, much bigger deal, if only because the countries share Israel’s longest border. For another, I really wish Trump _had_ kept those troops in Syria, instead of handing the country over the Russians, Iranians and Turks. His withdrawal hurt Israel far more than these agreements will help it, not to mention screwing over Israel’s allies the Kurds. A few pretty agreements don’t change the fact that Russia is now the power broker in the Middle East, and not the United States, and that the Iranians now have a free hand in the Levant. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/44 "2020-09-16T00:01:30Z")
A question, why would we stay in Syria? I think it was a no go. But I’d like to know why you think we should have stayed. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/45 "2020-09-16T00:17:07Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > now it looks like his administration may preside over the biggest re-alignment for peace in the Middle East since the Egyptian/Israeli peace deal in 1979. > > Trump may actually deserve those Nobel nominations How much does this have to do with Trump, though? Did the Trump administration do anything to bring this about other than provide a venue for parties that pretty much worked it out on their own? – serious question; I don’t know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/46 "2020-09-16T00:29:13Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > How much does this have to do with Trump, though? A lot, I hope. If so, then there’s a chance the UAE will reward him by letting him retire, living at one of his golf resorts there, shielded by the lack of an extradition treaty with the U.S. This would prevent the multi-year drama of his possibly tried in New York State from overshadowing a Biden presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/47 "2020-09-16T04:33:43Z")
I will wait for **Alessan** to speak for themselves but at a minimum we should have stayed in Syria to support the Kurds. The Kurds have been very strong and steady allies to the US for decades, in Syria and in Iraq. They have been shit on by supposed allies throughout history. And now the US under Trump has sold them out to the Russians and Syrians. Its truly one of the worst betrayals committed by the US in decades. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/48 "2020-09-16T11:01:56Z")
Both the Israelis and Emiratis have given Trump and his team credit for brokering the deal, admittedly without any specific details. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/49 "2020-09-16T12:47:21Z")
There’s a long history of Israelis and Arabs hammering out deals together and then giving all the credit to the U.S. It happened under Carter in 1979, and it happened again under Clinton in 1994. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/50 "2020-09-16T15:29:13Z")
Pulling out of Syria in that way was a serious military and diplomatic mistake. I believe it sent the wrong message to Kurdish allies, Turkey, Syria and Russia. It was done in a way disrespectful of the US military chain of command and made American allies more skeptical about the idea that they share the same long term goals as the United States current leadership. Soft power is often much more persuasive, in the long term, than quick and uninformed decisions. That said, these current steps seem positive, particularly if they lead to further serious and mutually beneficial solutions. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/51 "2020-09-16T17:37:55Z")
In that case, Trump deserves at least the amount of credit that Carter and Clinton got for the Egypt and Jordan deals, respectively, which I recall being quite a bit in Carter’s case, and quite a bit less in Clinton’s. I’d say that this is closer to the Egypt one, because Jordan only made peace in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords, whereas Egypt (under Sadat) and the UAE and Bahrain did so without such cover for themselves in the eyes of the Arab League. (Admittedly, the Palestinians these days do not seem to have as much clout in the Arab League as they used to.) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/52 "2020-09-16T17:52:09Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The Palestinian Authority, having gotten zero traction from the Arab league after their complaints, have even rescinded their opposition to the deal. Amazing. Wait. Where did you see the Palestinian Authority is OK with this? I am [reading the opposite](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/palestinians-protest-arab-normalisation-deals-israel-200915192514017.html): _PA President Mahmoud Abbas said that only Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories can bring peace to the Middle East._ _“Peace, security, and stability will not be achieved in the region until the Israeli occupation ends,” he said in a statement after the signing ceremony, condemned by Palestinians as a “betrayal” of their cause._ ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/53 "2020-09-16T19:48:23Z")
Palestinians in general are upset with this. Some feel the Arab League has abandoned them. One editorial discussed the low population of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in comparison to a purported global consensus of Muslims. One might argue instead there is sometimes little love lost between various countries and divisions. But the Saudis more recently have publically pushed for a fair solution for the Palestinians. I would like to see this too. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/54 "2020-09-16T22:11:45Z")
As I mentioned above, the UAE and Bahrain now have a huge amount of leverage over Israel that they didn’t have a month ago. If they want to use it to help the Palestinians, they can. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/55 "2020-09-17T13:30:16Z")
ETA: response to @Alessan I think this is an excellent observation, and this is an example of why the policy of isolation and “we don’t speak to evil” frequently proves unsuccessful. How much leverage Bahrain and others have now that they didn’t have before, I don’t know, but it’s something. Improved relations gives your competitor something to lose. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/56 "2020-09-17T20:33:15Z")
Kurshner cancelled his spot on MSNBC Andria Mitchell, stating a conflict. I think it was because she downplayed the accord and said the Palestinians were abandoned by their Arab neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/57 "2020-09-18T00:59:14Z")
Yeah, he probably was too chicken to have an interview with someone out of his epistemic bubble. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/58 "2020-10-22T15:01:18Z")
> **[Israelis can now travel to Dubai. The Persian Gulf will never be the same | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/israel-dubai-travel/index.html)** > > For decades, Israelis couldn't travel to the UAE and its dazzling city of Dubai -- or vice versa. That's all changed with new diplomatic relations. Find out what residents of Israel and Dubai hope to see once the pandemic eases. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/59 "2020-10-22T17:36:07Z")
I never got the impression Middle Easterners and especially Israelis were particularly timid about travel for the purpose of business or tourism. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iogZcBk88dw) is an Israeli song from 1958 called “To the Red Rock” about a group of tourists who hike to Petra and get shot for their trouble. So, naturally, it was censored for supposedly inspiring many Israelis to make the trip. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031/60 "2020-10-23T06:54:25Z")
> **[Sudan-Israel normalization announcement likely this weekend](https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/sudan-israel-normalization-announcement-could-come-this-weekend-646561)** > > The normalization would be unlikely to happen all at once, unlike in the recent cases of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, because of the unique circumstances in Sudan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-uae-agreement/918031.md?page=4)