Abraham Accord

Abraham Accord = UAE and Israel signed a US-brokered agreement aiming to establish formal relations between the two countries

UAE and Israel would establish formal diplomatic relations and in exchange, Israel would suspend its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
With this, UAE will become the 1st Gulf country to establish diplomatic and economic relations with Israel and 3rd Arab nation to recognise Israel after Egypt (in 1979) and Jordan (1994)
Gulf countries are the 7-Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf = Bahrain, Kuwait,
Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

For decades, there has been a consensus among many Arab and Muslim-majority states that they will not end a state of hostility with Israel until it agrees to a deal granting statehood to the Palestinians.
About Arab-Israel Conflict

Hussein-McMahon (1915) correspondence contained British support of an independent Arab state for Arab assistance in opposing the Ottoman Empire.
In 1917, during World War I, the British captured Palestine from the Ottoman Empire after the Sykes-Picot Agreement with France (1916).
Later in Balfour Declaration (1917), Britain pledged establishment of Palestine as national home for Jews.
The British Mandate period saw rise in immigration of Jews to the Mandate of Palestine. During World War II, the persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany gave momentum to the demands for a state for Jews in Palestine. This led to a conflict between Arabs and Jews i.e. Israel-Palestine conflict and Arab-Israel wars.
In 1947 the UN voted to split the Palestine between Arabs and Jews.

Jewish leadership accepted while Arabs rejected the agreement.
Consequently, Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria declared war on Israel.
Israel won the war and expanded its territory reducing Palestine to just Gaza strip and West bank.
It was the beginning of the Palestine refugee crisis which ultimately led to the creation of PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) in 1964.

After a series of wars in 1956, 1967 (6-day War) and 1973 (Yom Kipper War) between Israel and Arab States.
In 1993, PLO signed OSLO Accord with Israel that provides for Palestinian interim self-government in West bank and Gaza strip. (However, Israel backtracked and refused to consider Palestine as a free country.)
The issue was further complicated by the establishment of settlements by Israel in the occupied West Bank.
In 2011 Palestine launched a diplomatic campaign to gain membership in the UN for the state of Palestine. Same year, it was admitted in UNESCO as a full member, however the Palestinian struggle to be an independent nation is still going on.

Need to reorient their economies by diversifying petrodollar fueled economy. Israel being the leader in technology in West Asia can aid Arab states.
Israel is the most technologically advanced country in the Middle East and it can provide cutting- edge technology in fields of biotech, healthcare, defence and cyber surveillance.
Threat from radical Sunni extremism (Islamic State terror group)
Need to counter Iran: It could pave the way for the region’s Sunni Arab kingdoms, US and Israel enhancing regional cooperation against their common foe, Shia Iran.
Need to address threat of slamism or political Islam: It is a transnational concept often embodied by the Muslim Brotherhood and one which certain Gulf Arab rulers view as an existential threat to their dynastic monarchies.

For UAE: Deal signifies a strategic advantage over Iran and access to better technology including biotech, healthcare, defence and cyber surveillance. It might also prompt other Gulf and Arab nations to start engagement with Israel
For Israel: Israel gets a diplomatic and economic opening with the big power in the Gulf, that could open other doors, given its security interests. It will also provide Israel a secure presence in Gulf and the larger region.
For Saudi Arabia bloc: The bloc sees its interests being aligned with that of U.S. and Israel (Over Iran, Muslim brotherhood etc.) and their support for Palestine, which Arab powers had historically upheld, is dwindling
For USA: It allows US to pivot away from Trump’s Peace to Prosperity plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The agreement could be interpreted as a counter to the Iran-China deal.
For Palestine: Unlike the past two Arab-Israeli peace agreements, Palestinians do not figure prominently in the current one. Palestinians want a viable independent state which is nowhere on the horizon.

Egypt and Israel peace deal promised an autonomous self-governing authority in the West Bank and Gaza.
Jordanian Israeli treaty came after Israel agreed to the formation of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza.

Valuable oil reserves: Arab states of Persian Gulf holds valuable oil reserves to which US seeks access, not just to supplement American reserves but as a means of maintaining a degree of leverage over the import-dependent European, Asian and Japanese markets.
Threat of Terrorism: U.S. has highlighted the threat of terrorism from the Middle East as America’s major national security concern in the post-cold war world.
Sustaining freedom of navigation: It is required by U.S. Navy and for global commercial traffic through the Middle East’s major maritime passages—the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el Mandeb Strait, and the Suez Canal
Iran issue: US intends to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons

Peace and Stability in West Asia: Agreement opens the doors to the 1st big rapprochement between traditional adversaries in West Asia—Israel and the Arabs. It is beneficial for India, as it has deep stakes in terms of energy supplies and expatriate populations.
Two-state solution: Israel’s suspension of its plan for annexation might lead to early resumption of talks between Israel and Palestine. India has always supported two-state solution as part of a negotiated settlement between Israel and Palestine.
Ties with Iran could be impacted as it will see Arab-Israeli tie-ups as a direct threat to its security.
India has prominent stakes in Iran such as Chabahar port, access route to central Asia etc.
Also, deal opens new opportunities for India to play a much larger role in the regional security and stability in the region, as India enjoys special relations with both UAE and Israel.

PSIR 4 IAS