ISRAEL, THE GULF STATES, AND NORMALIZATION
BY LAUREN BATTEN
The Pacific Council recently hosted a webcast discussion with Dr. Jerrold D. Green on the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Here are takeaways from the discussion:
“There is a long and colorful history between Israel and Arab states,” Green said.
UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al-Otaiba, who Green called the “most skilled ambassador in Washington,” recently published an op-ed in a major Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth—in Hebrew. The move was an effort to solidify normalization between the two countries.
But this does not mean that both sides suddenly agree on everything. Green pointed out that the UAE would like to purchase F35s from the United States, but Israel does not want that, signifying remaining underlying conflicts.
As for Iran, Green argued that “Iran is closer to being able to develop a nuclear weapon today than it was when the United States withdrew from the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal). We never really clearly articulated what we want with Iran. What is our strategy here? It sounds like Iranians will wait the U.S. election out before making any more moves.”
“What the Arab Spring told us is how to balance the need for the stability with governments that haven’t been open to the views of their people,” Green said.
Green also argued that the United States should leave the Israelis and Palestinians to work out problems amongst themselves. “You can’t solve problems for other people; they need to do it themselves,” he said. “The increasing trend in Israel is inattention to this issue.”
He added that Palestinian leadership has been insufficient, and Israel takes comfort in this fact and uses it as an excuse and a pretext not to do a deal. “A deal is not beyond the capabilities of the Israeli government. This issue needs to be resolved rather than another 10, 20, 25 years.”
“Do not judge the Palestinian people by their leadership,” he added. “Judge the Palestinian people by their potential, their capability, their achievement, and their aspirations.”
If you are a Pacific Council member and would like to watch the full conversation, reach out to us at engage@pacificcouncil.org.
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The views and opinions expressed here are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.
