Six years ago, the signing of the Abraham Accords marked a significant diplomatic shift in the Middle East. On September 15, 2020, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates formally established relations with Israel at the White House, opening a new chapter in relations between Israel and the Arab world.
Since then, the agreements have endured, but the regional environment around them has changed dramatically. October 7 and the years of violence that followed have cast a long shadow over efforts to bring people closer. The death and destruction in Gaza, the unresolved Palestinian question and repeated rounds of regional conflict have made people to people relations considerably more difficult. For peace to develop beyond formal diplomatic relations, greater understanding between societies also matters.
Relations do not mean agreement
One point about the Abraham Accords continues to be misunderstood. Establishing diplomatic relations with another country does not mean agreeing with every policy of its government. Bahrain is not expected to agree with every Israeli decision, just as Israel is not expected to agree with every Bahraini or Emirati position.
Diplomatic relations are a channel of communication. At their best, they provide a platform for cooperation, dialogue and the ability to communicate differences directly. Disagreement is therefore not evidence that the Abraham Accords have failed. In some circumstances, disagreement is precisely when diplomatic channels matter most.
Bahrain’s decision in 2020 should also be understood within its broader approach to diplomacy. The Kingdom chose engagement over isolation. That does not require Bahrain to abandon its position on Palestinian rights, nor does maintaining relations prevent it from expressing disagreement with Israeli policies. Rather, diplomacy provides another avenue through which those positions can be communicated. Bahrain and the UAE made a commitment to dialogue and peaceful relations in 2020. Maintaining those relations while being straightforward about areas of disagreement is entirely consistent with that commitment.
The challenge after October 7
Perhaps the greatest challenge today is the distance that still exists between diplomatic relations and people to people relations. It is difficult to accurately quantify public attitudes towards Israel in Bahrain and the Gulf because there is a lack of recent, comprehensive polling. Much of the regional polling frequently cited on normalisation comes from countries with very different historical experiences of Israel, including countries that have fought wars with Israel, experienced direct military confrontation, or continue to live with the consequences of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. These findings are important, but they should not automatically be presented as Gulf public opinion.
What can be said is that October 7, the war in Gaza and the continuing absence of a resolution to the Palestinian question have created an extremely difficult environment for building closer relations between societies. Israel has spent most of its existence with limited relations with its Arab neighbours. This has inevitably contributed to a lack of familiarity and understanding between societies. Decades of conflict, political isolation and repeated rounds of violence do not disappear simply because governments sign diplomatic agreements.
The Abraham Accords opened doors that had previously been closed, including opportunities for Israelis and Gulf Arabs to meet, communicate and understand one another beyond the images created by decades of conflict. But building those relationships takes time.This is why efforts by Israelis, Bahrainis, Emiratis, Palestinians and others who genuinely seek dialogue should be welcomed. At the same time, we should be realistic. It is highly challenging to bring people closer and build further bridges while war and violence continue and while there is little visible progress towards resolving the Palestinian issue.
People to people relations cannot be manufactured through agreements alone. Trust develops through interaction, stability and time. The current regional climate makes that considerably more difficult.
America’s Role
The anniversary also comes in the year that the United States celebrates 250 years since its independence.It is worth remembering the important role American diplomacy has played in attempts to bring Israel and the Arab world closer.
From the Camp David process and the Egypt-Israel peace treaty to its support for the Israel-Jordan peace process, its hosting of important moments in the Oslo process, and eventually the Abraham Accords, the United States has repeatedly helped create or support diplomatic openings between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
That role remains important today. American engagement should not simply be about expanding the number of countries participating in the Abraham Accords. There is also a need to strengthen existing relationships, encourage dialogue during periods of disagreement and help create the conditions in which cooperation can become more meaningful.
The Middle East has experienced enough isolation and enough violence. Neither has brought the region lasting stability. In a world where alliances are shifting and regional challenges increasingly cross borders, there are many areas where cooperation makes sense. But meaningful cooperation also requires honesty about disagreements and about the obstacles standing in the way.
The Abraham Accords created channels that did not previously exist. Six years later, the challenge is not simply to celebrate their signing, but to make those channels meaningful in a much more difficult Middle East.