Sir, – Further to "The Irish Times view on the Israel-UAE deal: Normalising the occupation" (Editorial, August 15th), the Ireland Israel Alliance along with many individuals, organisations and nations around the globe, is delighted that for the first time in more than 25 years a peace agreement between an Arab nation and Israel has been agreed.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the third Arab nation to reach such an agreement with Israel, following Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
The historic US-brokered agreement is a concrete step towards peace in the Middle East and we expect other Arab states will follow suit, with the Gulf states of Oman and Bahrain publicly supporting the move.
India also welcomed it, in addition to western nations including the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.
At the time of writing, Ireland remains silent.
Delegations from Israel and the UAE have already arranged to meet over the coming weeks to sign agreements on a number of projects, including a partnership on Covid-19 treatment and vaccine development, and direct phone lines between the two nations have just opened.
When something as positive and historic as the UAE-Israel peace agreement happens, it is revealing to observe those not joining in with supportive messages.
Not surprisingly, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, Iran and Turkey all vehemently denounced the agreement.
What the moderate Sunni Arab world knows very well, but western leaders fail to comprehend, is the danger to the free world from the ayatollahs of Iran and increasingly from Turkey’s Recep Erdogan.
Meanwhile, the ayatollahs are no more interested in bettering the lives of ordinary Palestinians than they are of their own beleaguered citizens. Rather, they consider themselves to be the legitimate, divinely appointed world leaders and chief emissaries of the spread of Shia Islam.
Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Egypt are strengthening their ties with Israel not only because of mutual economic, cultural and healthcare opportunities, but because they know that Israel is the first line of defence against the ayatollahs and Turkey’s ambitions in the Middle East.
For decades, the Palestinians assumed they had a right to not only refuse to compromise with the Jews, they also demanded the same from the rest of the region.
The Khartoum Resolutions following the Six-Day War of 1967, called for “no peace, no recognition and no negotiation” with Israel.
Some 53 years on, it is not only clear to the Arab world that the nation of Israel is there to stay, but that it is of mutual benefit to them.
Israel’s greatest wish has always been to live in peace with its neighbours. With the extension of sovereignty now indefinitely postponed, the Jewish state is in a position to wait for the Palestinians to finally come to their senses and agree a peaceful resolution. – Yours, etc,
JACKIE GOODALL,
Executive Director,
Ireland Israel Alliance,
Dublin 2.