Abraham Accords And Pelutilization Of Palestine By Arab Countries

The signing of the Abrahamic Agreement between Israel, the US, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Bahrain at the White House, September 15, 2020 which resulted in Palestine being increasingly isolated. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA The prolonged conflict between Palestine and Israel has not shown a bright spot. Even since the latest war broke out on October 7, the situation in the Gaza Strip has escalated.

Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, suddenly launched attacks by land, sea, and air on Israel. The attack killed more than 1,000 people. The sudden attack was called the worst attack in Israeli history.

Since proclaiming independence in 1948, Israel has consistently been involved in a war with Palestine.

On the other hand, Arab countries, although they had firmly acknowledged Israel's independence, slowly opened diplomatic relations with the United States ally.

So it is not surprising that even more here, Arab countries actually seem to be ignorant of the conflict in Palestine-Israel.

International Relations Expert from Andalas University, Padang, Virtuous Setyaka, assessed the silence of many countries in the world because they calculated the strength of Israel.

In addition, Virtuous also did not deny that US support as a superpower against Israel was an excuse for other countries not to get involved in the conflict.

There are many reasons why many countries in the world tend not to interfere in the vortices of the Israeli and Palestinian conflicts. First, countries in the world take into account who these Israelis are," the International Relations expert said, quoted by Antara.

"Israel is also known to be backed up by big countries, especially the United States and other European countries," Virtuous said again.

If it continues, Virtuous predicts the Hamas and Israel conflict could trigger a 'proxi war' in Middle Eastern countries to spread to Western countries.

This can be seen from the attitude of two opposing superpowers, namely the US and Russia. Uncle Sam's country openly supports Israel. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Israel and fully supported Palestinian independence.

"For example, the United States provides support to Israel, then Russia feels interested in providing support to Palestine as well," said Virtuous, lecturer at Andalas University International Relations Study Program.

Arab countries are known to refuse to give diplomatic recognition to Israel after declaring independence in 1948. A series of wars between Arab and Israeli countries occurred in the following decades.

However, Egypt became the first Arab country to make a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. This comes after the 1967 Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Israel then approved a two-states or two-state solution with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993. A year later, Jordan signed a peace agreement with Israel.

But the two-state solution failed because of opposition, including from Hamas.

Meanwhile, the common interest between Israel and the Gulf Arab states is increasing. Israel's rapid economic development and technological innovation offer economic incentives.

Launching Burtannica, Abraham Accords or the Abrahamic Agreement is a series of agreements to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab countries. The agreement, all signed in the second half of 2020, consists of a general declaration alongside a bilateral agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.

Prior to the outbreak of the Hamas and Israel wars on October 7, Saudi Arabia, one of the most powerful countries in the Middle East, was also opening negotiations on the normalization of relations with Israel.

Israel is even optimistic that the framework for the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia can take place early next year. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) as the de facto leader of the kingdom, said his country was indeed getting closer to normalizing relations with Israel.

"Every day, we get closer," MbS said in an interview session with Fox News, quoted from CNN, September 21.

However, Saudi Arabia reportedly suspended normalization of Israel after the Hamas-Israel war broke out in early October.

According to professor emeritus at the Department of International Relations Science, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Prof. Dr. Mohtar Mas. oed the Abraham Accords peace agreement indirectly isolated Palestinians. This agreement makes Palestine no longer have full support from Arab countries.

The Abraham Accords is seen as a diplomatic structure that unites forces against Iran's threats. This resulted in the polarization of the Middle East into two camps, the decline in the spirit of fighting for Palestine, and the end of Israeli isolation," said Prof. Mohtar at the DIHI UGM Talks event entitled Hamas-Israel 2023: The New Round of Conflict or Peace in the Middle East?

"Abraham Accords resulted in Palestinian exclusion by some Arab countries," he concluded.

Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) urged an immediate cessation of violence and called for full respect for international humanitarian law in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

ASEAN condemned acts of violence that killed and injured civilians, including ASEAN member states, and called on all parties to create safe, fast, and barrier-free humanitarian corridors.

The ASEAN reaffirms its support for a negotiated two-state solution that allows Israel and Palestine to coexist in peace and security in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolution, the statement reads.

This will be the only way that can be taken to resolve the root causes of conflict, added a statement.