The Middle East is in transition.
In the last year the Abraham Accords and normalization with Gulf states, Morocco and Sudan has opened a door to new opportunities. This could be a whole new era. There are many hurdles however, which include Israel's adversaries such as Iran, as well as hurdles closer to home in domestic politics and the Palestinian Authority. Ksenia Svetlova sat down with The Jerusalem Post to discuss recent developments in the Abraham Accords, as well as how Israel's ties with Egypt and Jordan have improved. She is a research fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at IDC Herzliya and a director of the program on Israel-Middle East relations at Mitvim institute for regional foreign policy. She is also an ex-member of Knesset.
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Svetlova is an expert on the region and writes frequently on these issues. She discussed some important aspects of the normalization agreements and how there is now a new spotlight on Egypt and Jordan ties. This has involved more high-level visits to both countries as well as talk of solar and energy projects in Jordan.
Israel's ties with the Gulf have helped pave the way for better ties with Israel's traditional peace partner neighbors. However, Svetlova notes that there is still much to be done on the Palestinian issue. That means Israel should take advantage of these times to work toward better economic prosperity for the Palestinians. But that's not all, there is also a question of how Israel can continue to invest in making the two-state solution a real ideal, rather than risk losing the peace altogether and having a new crisis with the Palestinians. The wide-ranging discussion looked at the Gulf, how this impacts Jordan and Egypt and then how it can all impact Israel's immediate neighbors in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza. We also talked about the chances for new peace partners in the region. Rumors have circulated in the past about Oman or even Saudi Arabia.
It remains to be seen who may come forward to join the Abraham Accords states.