Images of Israel’s leaders being greeted warmly by their counterparts in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco never cease to amaze, even 20 months after the signing of the Abraham Accords.
Video footage from the condolence call President Isaac Herzog paid on Sunday to new UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) after the death of his brother, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former president, was no exception.
This visit came in the midst of a mini-wave of terror in Israel, heightened security alerts and anxiety, after weeks of clashes on Temple Mount days after international condemnation of Israel’s police for its behavior at the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
And amid all that bleakness, there were Herzog and MBZ exchanging kisses on each other’s cheeks; there they were in what looked like a warm conversation, hands clasped together; there was Herzog presenting two members of the government to the UAE president – one from the Right flank (Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel), and one from the Left (Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej).
The two-minute video clip Herzog uploaded to Twitter of his reception in Abu Dhabi was a badly-needed respite from a monotonous drumbeat of depressing news.
قدمت اليوم مع الوزيرين @YoazHendel1, @EsawiFr العزاء باسم دولة إسرائيل للرئيس الجديد للإمارات سمو الشيخ @MohamedBinZayed بوفاة اخيه الرئيس الراحل سمو الشيخ خليفة بن زايد، وتمنينا له التوفيق والنجاح في منصبه الجديد كرئيس للإمارات وحاكم أبو ظبي. معا نعزز السلام في الشرق الأوسط pic.twitter.com/FFIGEsZAMB
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 15, 2022
Not all is “Nakba,” not all is “With blood and fire we will redeem Palestine,” not all is doom and gloom. The sight of Herzog offering condolences on behalf of the State of Israel to the new leader of an important and influential Arab state – and those condolences being accepted with visible warmth by that leader – showed what is possible, and what can be achieved when there is good will on both sides.
Yes, there is hope.
The relationship between Israel and the UAE sprouted out of the seed of common interests, and has now flourished handsomely, as Herzog’s visit to the UAE – his second in a year – attests.
Iran, more specifically, the threat of Iran, may have been the catalyst for the formation of this relationship, but in less than two years the ties have moved well beyond that.
Nevertheless, a common desire and interest to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities remains the infusing spirit of this relationship, a relationship long thought impossible until an Israeli-Palestinian agreement was hashed out.
It is with a view toward Iran that policy planners in both Jerusalem and Dubai are certainly watching the current developments inside the Islamic Republic.
While much of the world’s media attention last week was focused on developments in Ukraine and the death of Abu Akleh, inside Iran – and very much under the world’s radar screen – food protests broke out across the country. According to social media posts, the Iranians used lethal force against the protesters, which have reportedly numbered well into the thousands.
Herzog is one of the dozens of world leaders to beat a path to MBZ’s door to offer condolences. Funerals are often events that bring world leaders together and allow impromptu conversations, and on Monday, US Vice President Kamala Harris flew to Abu Dhabi at the head of an impressive US delegation that included the secretaries of state and defense.
Considering that Israel and the UAE share the same negative opinion about the US return to the Iran nuclear deal – a move that both countries believe would only embolden Iran in its quest for regional hegemony – this would be a good time for both countries to coordinate the message that with internal dissent again on the rise in Iran, this is not the time to ease sanctions against Iran, but to keep them in place to feed the popular Iranian opposition.
In 2009, during the Green Movement uprising that began after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Iran’s presidential election, then-president Barack Obama missed an opportunity to support the country-wide grassroots protest movement. Early in his term, he was concerned that doing so would scupper his intention to reach a deal with the Iranians.
Israel and the UAE’s message now to the US should be unified and simple: Don’t make the same mistake again.