The political instability and the pending elections in Israel will not affect the Abraham Accords normalization agreements, a majority of Gulf and Arab experts say.
Gulf media outlets view the problems plaguing the Bennett government and the Knesset as a political dispute between the various political parties in Israel, while some newspapers indicate that these differences are related to the corruption charges against the opposition leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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L-R: Bahrain FM Abdullatif al-Zayani, then-PM Benjamin Netanyahu, then-U.S. president Donald Trump, and Emirati FM Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan at the signing of the Abraham Accords at the White House, September 2020
(Photo: AFP)
“Bahrain and the UAE wish for political stability in Israel, especially since stability there means moving forward in the new relationship with the Hebrew state,” Saad Rashid, a Bahraini political analyst, told The Media Line.
“There will certainly be no impact on the Abraham Accord. Some other agreements, whether related to the economy, education, or other areas, may be delayed, but certainly, there will be no retreat from the Abraham agreements,” Rashid said.
Marwan Hatem, a journalist specializing in Israeli affairs, told The Media Line, “the political differences within the Israeli government have been going on for more than four years, and they do not significantly affect foreign policies.
“The most important thing for the Gulf and Arab countries is for the new Israeli government to maintain its anti-Iranian stance, which puts pressure on the reluctant U.S. administration to reject any return to the nuclear agreement with Iran that might cause a crisis in the region,” he continued.
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Members of 2015 Iran nuclear deal attending a meeting at the Grand Hotel of Vienna as they try to restore the pact, April 17, 2021
(Photo: AFP)
“[Likely interim prime minister] Yair Lapid, [outgoing prime minister Naftali] Bennett, and others are hostile to Iran. Military and security agreements with the countries of the region will continue, and this is the most important thing,” Hatem said.
Montaser Qassem, a journalist specializing in Iranian affairs, told The Media Line, “I do not expect a change with regard to the deployment of anti-missile, radar, and anti-drone systems in the Gulf in both Bahrain and the Emirates, which were previously announced.
“With regard to the Palestinian issue, the countries that signed peace agreements with Israel still believe in the two-state solution, which is perhaps the decision within the Israeli government, but the most important thing for all the countries now is the stability of the region,” Qassem said.
Gulf and Arab activists who usually tweet about Israeli affairs did not comment on the political problems of the Israeli government and the announced dissolution of the Knesset and only reported the news as it was.
Mohammed Naqi, an Emirati writer, agreed with the above commentators on the Gulf states’ priorities regarding Israel.
“Gulf countries do not interfere in internal affairs [of other countries] and respect them as usual, and they deal with any other government according to the norms, charters, and agreements between the two countries,” Naqi said.
A member of the Bahraini parliament who preferred not to be named said, “certainly, the agreements with Israel are stable, and the Israeli government’s position toward Iran is also consistent because Iran is a common enemy.”
He added, “What we fear is an internal change toward a policy of expanding settlements in the [Palestinian] territories, or the continuation of pressure and practices toward Al-Aqsa Mosque, or that the new government will be tougher on the Palestinians
“It is true that Israeli policy is stable, and it is a state of institutions that does not depend on personal decisions, but there were also governments that were less severe in dealing with the Palestinians, and others that were very severe. We hope that the new government in Israel will realize the importance of easing pressure on the Palestinians and speeding up the two-state solution,” the Bahraini lawmaker said.
In the same context, the Palestinian-born Al-Jazeera journalist Jamal Rayyan held a nonscientific poll on his official Twitter account showing that 93% of the thousands of respondents reject the idea of creating an alliance between Arab countries and Iran to confront Israel.
Rayyan, who holds American citizenship, is known for his hatred and criticism of the peace agreements with Israel. He deleted the poll’s result and submitted it for a revote, claiming the initial results had been distorted by “the sudden entry of 4,000 votes by Zionist flies in order to mislead Arab public opinion.”
Mutlaq al-Anzi, a Saudi political analyst, told The Media Line: “Israeli policies are fixed, and they will not change regarding any of the regional or internal files, no matter how governments change. There is no fear of any future government in Israel.”