# Abraham Accords Fantasy Will Only Cause More Suffering
The Abraham Accords, brokered by the Trump administration in 2020, promised a new era of Middle East peace through normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Critics contend this framework obscures rather than resolves the underlying Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Accords separated Israeli-Arab state relations from the Palestinian question, allowing Arab governments to establish diplomatic and economic ties with Israel without addressing Palestinian statehood or the status of Israeli settlements in occupied territories. Supporters praised this pragmatic approach as achievable diplomacy. Detractors argue it abandons Palestinians and enables Israel to continue policies they view as expansionist.
The core critique holds that normalizing ties between Israel and Arab states without Palestinian resolution creates false stability. It removes pressure on Israel to negotiate final status agreements while Palestinian civilians remain displaced and governance remains contested. The approach assumes Arab-Israeli state relations can improve independently of the Palestinian question, a proposition many analysts reject.
This strategy gained prominence under the Trump administration but has continued under the Biden presidency, which has pursued its own diplomatic initiatives in the region. Both administrations presented these agreements as watershed moments for regional stability and counterbalance to Iranian influence.
The governance question cuts deeper than diplomatic theater. By severing state-level Arab-Israeli relations from Palestinian rights, the Accords remove a lever that historically motivated Israeli concessions at negotiating tables. Arab nations previously withheld recognition as leverage. Once that leverage disappears, Palestinians lose institutional backing from their closest regional allies.
The suffering argument centers on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, whose political status remains undefined after decades. Without external pressure mechanisms, including Arab economic and diplomatic leverage, Palestinian negotiating power weakens further. This framework perpetuates indefinite occupation without forcing resolution.
The Abraham Accords represent a shift in Middle East