On the fifth anniversary of the historic Abraham Accords signing, the US-mediated normalization deal continues to provide hope for the future of the Middle East amid the war, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, following her trip last week to Abu Dhabi to mark the anniversary.
The Abraham Accords were signed on September 15, 2020, during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office. They are a set of agreements that established diplomatic normalization between Israel and several Arab states, beginning with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. Shortly after the signing, Morocco and Sudan also agreed to normalize relations with Israel.
Since the signing, efforts have been made to expand the accords, with Trump calling on additional Middle East countries to join. However, dynamics shifted significantly after Israel entered an ongoing multifront war in the region following Hamas’s October 7 massacre in 2023, putting a halt to expansion, along with a strain on relations.
Haskel expressed hope regarding the future of the accords after her trip to Abu Dhabi, while also voicing the challenges of maintaining them during the war.
Recounting her visit to Abu Dhabi, she said that it provided hope that people in the UAE “are really looking for a future without extremism.”
“They’re really looking to build a mutual future together in a different way than what we have seen in the last 20 years,” she said.
“The stronger these bonds are when created, the more stable and the better it will be for everybody,” Haskel continued.
Speaking on the complexity of maintaining the accords during the war, Haskel told the Post, “We always knew that the Abraham Accords would be tested during this time.”
The complexity of the Israel-Hamas War
She then delved into some of the challenges that arose during the war. Haskel said that the Emirates “were some of the biggest contributors to the Palestinians in Gaza.”
“They were able to bring humanitarian aid to places [in Gaza] where many other countries couldn’t,” she said. “They were the biggest door to the Palestinian community.”
Haskel also said that because of the “trust we built together,” along with “the cooperation and the dialogue that we had together,” the accords persevered.
While there have been attempts to expand the Abraham Accords to include countries such as Saudi Arabia, Haskel spoke on the unlikelihood of such a feat occurring while the war continues: “In regard to the Saudis, it hasn’t been easy.”
“They need to decide if they want to tie the future of their children with the decisions of the corrupt and extremist Palestinian government,” she said.
“There needs to be a certain climate to start a discussion or a conversation,” she added.
The global impact of the Abraham Accords
Haskel had spoken at the European Leadership Network think tank conference during her visit, discussing the expansion of the Abraham Accords. She told the Post how significant she felt the accords are on an international scale, extending beyond the Middle East.
She said that the Abraham Accords’ endurance over the past five years marks the celebration of “building a channel not just between the Emirates and Abrahamic religion-based states, but also with European countries.”
“There are people from Italy, England, the UK, Sweden, Holland, and many other European countries who really want to take part and see how we can build better cooperation,” Haskel said.
“I think it’s an incredible opportunity for Europe as well, because if we’re looking at the agreements like IMEC [India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor] and other instances that are really going to change the world, it’s not just about the Middle East – it’s about the entire international community.”
“It’s been incredible,” Haskel said about the trip, adding that while the Middle East has “been in chaos,” the UAE has been seeking something different, which could secure a better future in all areas in the wake of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the accords.