On September 15, 2020, Israel, Bahrain and the UAE met at Donald Trump’s White House to sign the Abraham Accords peace agreement. Sudan and Morocco joined shortly afterwards. One year on, the agreement is holding strong, says Jeff Jacoby in The Boston Globe. In much of the Arab world, Jewish relations are thriving. We’ve seen the emergence of Dubai’s “secret synagogue” and the spectacle of hundreds of Jews in December “dancing around a giant menorah” at the foot of the Burj Khalifa to celebrate Hanukkah. Kosher food is now on the menu at restaurants in Dubai and for in-flight meals on the airline Emirates. Israel is even hosting a pavilion at the Dubai Expo, which opens next month. Words like “historic” and “sea change” get thrown around a lot but Trump can hold his head high for this.
Biden tried to roll back most of Trump’s policies – “but has expressed only enthusiasm for the Abraham Accords”. His predecessor’s trick “was not to appease Israel’s harshest foes”, but to make Israel’s strength “so apparent that former opponents would want to switch sides”. Israeli economic, military and technological prowess helped make peace realistic. And the biggest winners have been Israel’s former antagonists. The UAE has had a huge economic bump, Sudan has received badly needed economic aid, Bahrain has increased its international security vis-à-vis Iran. “Blessed are the peacemakers. May their numbers increase.”