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Israel-UAE Deal Is Win-Win-Win, Palestinians Included
(NBC News) Ghaith Al-Omari - The U.S., Israel and the UAE pulled off a diplomatic win-win-win in the Middle East. The Palestinian leadership will inevitably denounce the development, but it would be wiser if they didn't: This agreement could benefit them, too. Until now, Israelis and Palestinians have been locked in a moribund process. The announcement of the deal holds the potential of breathing life into the peace process. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, like every Israeli premier before him, has made normalizing relations with Arab and Muslim countries a key piece of his diplomatic agenda. This reflects a deeper, long-standing Israeli desire for a normal place in the region. The historic willingness of Arab states to put the plight of the Palestinians in the center of their foreign policy has magnified the clout of the Palestinians and their struggle. But if the UAE can pull off this diplomatic 180, it will suggest that the Palestinian issue is losing its traditional resonance and is now incapable of mobilizing the masses. The Palestinian Authority recently rejected UAE Covid-19 aid when it sent a plane via an Israeli airport to deliver it. Yet such a reaction ignores the potential benefits of this breakthrough to the Palestinians themselves. History has shown that Arab countries that have relations with Israel - namely, Egypt and Jordan - are more effective in advancing Palestinian interests. The UAE will be a valuable and effective addition to this group. Israel and the UAE should be commended for this courageous act. The international community needs to capitalize on its momentum, and Arab and international friends of the Palestinians need to urge them to use this opening to explore ways of resuming Palestinian-Israeli talks within a wider regional context. The writer, a senior fellow in The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was an advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team in 1999-2006.