(New York Times) Patrick Kingsley - When Benjamin Netanyahu won a general election last month, analysts wondered how three Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel in 2020 - Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates - might react. Netanyahu forged the deals himself when last in office. But any unease has quickly morphed into a more pragmatic approach: Business as usual. "Any change of government will not affect Bahrain's approach to developing positive relations with Israel," Khaled Al Jalahma, the Bahraini ambassador to Israel, said Thursday. "Bahrain's stance on the change of administration in Israel is the same as it would be with any other country." That stance reflects the extent to which the Abraham Accords redrew the contours of Middle Eastern geopolitics. The signing of the accords underscored how solidarity with the Palestinians had been eclipsed, for certain Arab leaders, by national self-interest. Shared fears of a nuclear Iran, coupled with enthusiasm for better economic, technological and military ties with Israel, prompted the accords' signatories to prioritize relations with Israel.
2022-12-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive