The 

Arab–Israeli normalization refers to the peace efforts and treaties between the Arab

League and Israel, ending the Arab–Israeli conflict. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel effort
made to find terms upon which peace can be agreed to in the Arab–Israeli conflict and also
specifically the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Over the years numerous Arab League countries have
signed peace and normalization treaties with Israel, beginning with the Egypt–Israel peace treaty
(1979). Despite the failure to implement the Israeli-Lebanese peace accords (1983), more treaties
continued with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process (1991-present), Jordan–Israel peace treaty
(1994), Abraham accords between Israel and UAE & Bahrain (2020) and Israel–Sudan normalization
agreement (2020). Moreover, numerous Arab League members established semi-official relations
with Israel, including Oman and Saudi Arabia.
In the months leading up to the agreement, Israel had been working in secret with the UAE to fight
the COVID-19 pandemic. European news media reported that Mossad had discreetly obtained health
equipment from the Gulf states.[21][22] Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, reported at the
end of June 2020 that the two countries were in cooperation to fight the coronavirus and that the
head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, had traveled numerous times to the UAE. However, the UAE
appeared to downplay this a few hours later by revealing that it was merely an arrangement among
private companies rather than at state level.[23]
According to Hannu Juusola [fi] at the University of Helsinki, the agreement meant that Palestinians
would think that the UAE put its own interests before those of the Palestinians, who had always
assumed that Arab countries would not sign peace treaties with Israel before the rights of
Palestinians had been guaranteed.[34]

The UAE-Israel deal is simple a formalization of bilateral relations

under the auspices of the U.S.

On Aug. 13, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) and Israel have agreed to “fully normalize their diplomatic relations.” A joint
statement by the U.S., the state of Israel and the UAE was released. Israeli Prime
Minister Netanyahu shared Trump’s message and considered the statement a
“historic” step. On Thursday, the two countries will sign many bilateral agreements
ranging from tourism and culture to security and investments.

As a matter of fact, it is not normalization but the formalization of bilateral relations

under the auspices of the U.S., because the UAE had already normalized its relations
with Israel informally. The two countries have had close relations, especially since the
eruption of the Arab insurgencies. Many Israeli officials and ministers have visited
Abu Dhabi and Dubai at different times in the last several years.

According to the joint statement, “all three countries face many common challenges”
and “share a similar outlook regarding the threats and opportunities in the region.”
The statement does not refer to the city of Jerusalem, or al-Quds in Arabic. That
means the UAE recognizes the annexation of the city.

Turkey and Iran are the only two relevant countries who have declared their
opposition to the deal. It is generally accepted that the accord is against the regional
claims of these two countries. Turkish officials strongly condemned the agreement,
claiming that it undermines the position of the Palestinians. According to Turkish
authorities, the UAE paves the way for the legitimization of the Israeli new
expansionism in occupied Palestinian lands and its claim over the united Jerusalem.

As expected, almost all Western countries including the U.K., Germany, France and
Spain welcomed the agreement, since Western countries have always prioritized the
existence of the Israeli state as the main aim of their policies in the Middle East. Even
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the deal, claiming it will
contribute to regional peace.

The agreement between the two countries has many regional implications. However,
it will not cause a breakthrough in the region, since it will not change the regional
balance of power. First of all, the agreement is clearly against the Palestinian people
and the Palestinian political actors. Palestinians have condemned the accord as a
betrayal of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the city of Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause.
Second, the UAE deal with Israel means that the decadeslong Israeli occupation of
the Palestinian lands will continue, and Israel will control the united Jerusalem. The
agreement will make a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem less
likely, if not impossible. The UAE has agreed with Israel to manage the expansionist
Israeli policy and not to cause frustration among the Arab peoples. The UAE asked
the Israeli government to suspend declaring sovereignty over the West Bank;
however, as explained by Netanyahu, this suspension is temporary. That is, after
securing the establishment of diplomatic relations with some Arab states, Israel will
reinitiate its expansionist and colonialist policy.

Third, the agreement will solidify the position of both Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump in their respective domestic politics. A foreign
policy victory may contribute to the reelection of Trump in the coming American
presidential elections, and it may provide political relief and an atmosphere for
Netanyahu to establish a stable government and remain in power.

Fourth, most Arab states including Egypt, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain praised the
accord, while others remained silent. As a Turkish proverb says, “silence means
acknowledgment.” None of the Arab countries so far expressed frustration with the
agreement. On the contrary, some Gulf countries such as Bahrain and Oman may
follow suit and sign agreements with Israel. Although Arab regimes try to normalize
their relations with Israel, the Arab streets will not normalize their perspective of
Israel until Israel agrees to withdraw from the occupied territories and stop oppressing
the Palestinian people. In other words, unless Israel agrees to normalize its policies,
the Arab people will not change their perception of Israel.
Fifth, it is clear that the agreement is directed against Iran. Iranian state officials
strongly condemned the agreement and pointed out that it is against the Iranian
regional interests. Iran considers the deal a step toward Israeli intervention into the
Gulf affairs. As mentioned by Netanyahu, there are intelligence and security
dimensions of the agreement, which bring the two states together against the Iranian
threat. However, the UAE feels vulnerable against Iran. Unlike the Israeli side, Abu
Dhabi does not want to have a problem with Tehran, which can directly threaten the
UAE. Therefore, Emirati Minister of Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash stated that the
agreement with Israel is a “sovereign decision” and was not directed at Iran.

“I was born in Morocco, in Boujad, and I feel like my dream has come true,” said Israeli
Knesset member Amir Peretz in a video on December 13. Just days before, on
December 10, US President Donald Trump announced that Morocco and Israel had
agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations for the first time since the North African
country cut off ties in 2000 following the Second Intifada. In return, the United States
officially recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Moroccans were not surprised to see their country became the fourth Arab nation to
normalize relations with Israel—it was the US’s recognition of Western Sahara that
astonished them since  Morocco’s identity is intertwined with that of Western Sahara. In
fact, Rabat, the Moroccan intelligence services, have had an unofficial relationship with
Israel through its intelligence agency, the Mossad, for almost sixty years. Their history of
intelligence-sharing not only shaped the establishment of Israel in 1948, but also
enabled the current Alaouite dynasty to preserve the monarchy because
the Mossad informed the late King Hassan II about plans to overthrow him.
The Moroccan reaction to normalization with Israel was not one-sided. There is a
significant Moroccan Jewish community in Israel, with one million Jews of Moroccan
origin, while around three thousand Jews live in Morocco. Additionally, seventy
thousand Israelis visit Morocco each year. The Jewish community of both countries has
always been one of the main pillars of their relationship. Despite issues surrounding the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Morocco remained—via its multiple synagogues, Jewish
schools, and museums—a center of Jewish life in North Africa and the Arab world with
the largest Jewish community—despite the exodus of Moroccan Jews during the mid-
twentieth century following the establishment of Israel.
Over the last five years, King Mohammed VI launched several projects to promote the
diversity of Morocco’s culture, including its Jewish community. In recent years, a
reference to how Morocco was influenced by Jewish culture was added to Morocco’s
constitution.
Upon hearing the news, the Moroccan Jewish community welcomed and celebrated the
normalization. They shared on social media famous quotes of the late King Hassan II, a
key figure who secretly held peace talks in the 1970s and negotiated the peace accords
between the Arab states and Israel. Among those was a popularly shared quote: “When
a Jew emigrates, Morocco loses a citizen, but he gains an ambassador.” The legacy of
Sultan Mohamed V was also revived, as he is remembered for refusing to hand
Jewish Moroccans to the collaborationist Vichy France, which wanted to enforce their
laws on Morocco (then under the French protectorate) in the early 1940s. Interestingly,
when asked about their views on normalization, the Moroccan Amazigh community—
who overwhelmingly emphasize cultural and social components—saw the normalization
as a triumph against Arabism.
Western Sahara
On December 10, Moroccans turned their attention to national television, as the
establishment of a US Consulate in Dakhla, a prominent city in Western Sahara, was
officially announced. It is impossible to fully comprehend the average Moroccan citizen’s
reaction to normalization with Israel without referring to the Trump administration’s
decision, since many consider cooperating with Israel to be a pragmatic choice, and
would have fiercely opposed it if Western Sahara was out of the equation.
Recent events also played in favor of this normalization, such as the current Cold War
between Algeria and Morocco in the El Guergarat conflict. Algiers backs the Polisario
Front—a Sahrawi rebel liberation movement with the aim of ousting Morocco to create a
Democratic Republic in the Western Sahara—which declared war on Morocco on
November 14. Because of recent events, some Israelis—Moroccan Israelis included—
organized a demonstration in support of Rabat, chanting in Moroccan Arabic, “The
Sahara is Moroccan,” and “We have our King, it’s King Mohammed VI.”
Therefore, it is assumed that Israel still has issues with Algeria, which does not
recognize the Jewish state and has a long history of fighting against it during the Six-
Day War and Yom Kippur War. On Twitter, some Moroccans used the hashtag “ #
‫( ”المغرب_أوال‬Morocco First) and “ #‫ ( ”البوليساريو_تحتضر‬Polisario is dying) to signal their
support of Rabat’s approach towards Israel, as they consider it a significant step towards
countering the Polisario Front’s actions.
Now that Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara is recognized, Rabat wants
the movement to be internationally categorized as a terrorist organization.
Concerns over normalization
Given the position of King Muhammad VI as the chairman of Al Quds Committee of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which calls for the establishment of a
Palestinian state, he reassured Moroccans shortly after the announcement of
normalization by saying that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is as important as Western
Sahara. “Morocco always puts the Palestinian issue in the rank of the Moroccan Sahara
issue, and Morocco’s work to consolidate its Moroccanness will never be, neither today
nor in the future, at the expense of the Palestinian people’s struggle for their legitimate
rights,” he affirmed.
Nonetheless, Moroccans expressed their concerns online over the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, declaring that the normalization was a trade-off between the Palestinian state
and Western Sahara. Many used the hashtag  #‫التطبيع_خيانة‬ (normalization is treason) to
express their disapproval. In addition, six Moroccan organizations—among them the
Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights, one of the country’s largest non-governmental
organizations, and the Solidarity Committee with the Palestinian People in Casablanca
—called on social media for a demonstration in front of parliament on December 14.
However, because of the state of emergency issued over the coronavirus pandemic,
they were dispersed by authorities.
Interestingly, Muhammad Amkraz, the Minister of Employment and Professional
Integration and a member of the Justice and Development Youth Party—Morocco’s
prominent Islamist party—declared his opposition to normalization with Israel. His
statement prompted a petition calling for his dismissal, revealing a deepening political
divide inside Morocco. As a result, Moroccans opposing normalization are now being
considered unpatriotic for not supporting relations with Israel as it pertains to Western
Sahara’s status.
Besides seeking to restore diplomatic relations, the Israel-Morocco agreement is
considered an important step to renew a relationship. On a practical level, it marks the
start of multiple economic, cultural, and social collaborations. It is in line with this logic
that Moroccans ardently hope that, by having good diplomatic ties with both Israel and
Palestine, it will help a future peace mediation as the late King Hassan II once
negotiated.