Video Of The Week -Second Temple Period Revealed https://tinyurl.com/47uzbhzm
On the
contrary, a stream of actions involving major Muslim nations, stretching from
Kazakhstan to Egypt, and from Sudan to Morocco, immediately after the recent
escalation, indicate subtle shifts in the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The biggest one could be the decoupling of the Palestinian-Israel peace process
and Israel’s wider regional relations.
The
United Arab Emirates has just received the first Israeli foreign minister in
Abu Dhabi. Eight Muslim nations and Israel were part of the US-led Sea Breeze
military drills in the Black Sea recently. The Muslim nation of Kazakhstan, a
member state of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), dedicated a memorial to Jews just days after the recent
Gaza war. And that war was still raging when Sudan reaped the fruits of its normalization with Israel
(among other positive policies), through international debt-relief commitments
in Paris on May 17.
A week
later, President Ilham Aliev celebrated “the strong ties” between Azerbaijan and Israel,
and proudly declared that Baku has “full access to sophisticated Israeli
weaponry.” Egypt sent the first invitation in 13 years to an Israeli
foreign minister to visit Cairo.
In
March, OIC membership applicant Kosovo became the first Muslim nation to move its embassy to Jerusalem.
When Gaza erupted two months later, Kosovo did not reconsider. Nor did the OIC
or any member state take significant punitive action against Israel. [The
multilateral organization did slap Kosovo on the wrist for that move, though].
There is
also Bangladesh — days after the Gaza ceasefire — removing the Israel exclusion
from its passport and telling the Palestinian ambassador: “We are a sovereign
country; we will decide what to do.” Although the country has no diplomatic
ties with Israel, the timing of the gesture is important.
Normalization
is here to stay, and Israel is no longer the enemy in many strategic circles
across the wider Middle East. Predictions of the Abraham Accords’ demise were
premature. Hamas and Iran, and a long list of right-wing parties, leftist
nationalists, and populist leaders (like President Erdogan in Turkey and Prime
Minister Imran Khan in Pakistan) find few buyers in the region for their
anti-normalization pitch.
In
interviews with two security officials in two countries neighboring Iran in
January and May last year, they said that they indirectly rely on Israel to
counter Iran’s influence, which they believe they cannot do alone. Officials in
the region will not say this openly, but journalists have heard variations of
this view from government, military, and intelligence officials in background
briefings within the past five years.
While
the dynamics have changed, a repeat of the Gaza conflict, renewed unrest in
Jerusalem, and fresh images of Palestinian women and children scuffling with
strong-looking, impressively attired Israeli soldiers will strain the luck of
Israel’s many good friends in the region, empower hard-liners, and could slow
new ties.
But if
Israel shows its new friends that it can deftly handle the conflict with the
Palestinians, then it can expect help from its new support network in the
region to pressure Palestinian leaders to enact necessary reforms, focus on
opportunities for young Palestinians, and shun violence. The idea that Arabs
should nudge Palestinians toward moderation is another brewing trend in
moderate Arab countries that has the potential to change the Arab approach
toward the Palestinian issue, depending again on how Israel plays its cards.
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