(New York Times) Thomas L. Friedman - The normalization agreements signed Tuesday between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain are the right thing. Egypt and Jordan each made peace with Israel to end their state of war, but trade, tourism and mutual investments have been limited. Israel and the Emirates and Israel and Bahrain are normalizing their relations because they want trade, tourism and investment, and also intelligence-sharing against Iran. And Saudi Arabia has clearly blessed it all by allowing Israel's El Al airlines to fly through Saudi airspace back and forth to Bahrain and the UAE. You don't see that every day. When the most technologically advanced and globalized Arab state, the UAE, decides to collaborate with the most technologically advanced and globalized non-Arab state in the region, Israel, I suspect new energies will get unlocked and new partnerships forged that should be good for both Arab-Israeli and Jewish-Muslim human-to-human relations.
2020-09-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive