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Palestinians Are Astonished by Normalization with Israel, Bahrain Is Threatened by Iran
(Times of Israel) Avi Issacharoff - For decades, the Palestinians successfully imposed certain axioms on the Middle East that held that Arab countries must not do business with Israel since the Palestinian issue was the foremost issue of all Arabs everywhere. As long as there was no solution for the Palestinians, no Arab country was "allowed" to do business with the Zionist enemy. This Palestinian success has started to evaporate. Two Arab states have decided to ignore the Palestinians and establish diplomatic relations with Israel, and several more may soon follow. If this is the sentiment coming from some Arab countries, how can those countries and agencies that continue to call for boycotting Israel justify themselves? The Palestinians' own brothers are openly calling for full normalization. The previous axiom is crumbling before the astonished eyes of the Palestinians. The Palestinians are no longer the most pressing issue in the Arab world. Bahrain has a Shiite majority, and its leadership is concerned that Iran will attempt, in any way possible, to undermine its new accord with Israel. Iran is actively involved within the UAE, and even more so in Bahrain. An example is the demonstrations in Bahrain during 2011's Arab Spring that drove thousands out to the streets and that had Iranian fingerprints all over them. The Saudi monarchy sent hundreds of armored vehicles and security personnel to crush the protests.