Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi Make Peace

On August 3, I published an article in Newsmax titled, "With Iran, the Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend."

I stated, "Jerusalem and Tehran go back and forth as friends and enemies." Indeed, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

During our Civil War, (1861-1865), President Lincoln ordered captured soldiers from the South to be treated as friends. A northern woman asked, "Why do you treat our enemies as friends? Lincoln replied, "If you treat your adversaries as friends, they are no longer your enemies."

Moreover, during Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg Address, he expressed another ideal that defines America: "…as a government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Lincoln's idealism is a reason so many countries are friendly with America.

When the Shah of Iran reigned, Iran and Israel were "friends." When Ayatollahs ruled, Jerusalem and Tehran became "enemies." Will a back-and-forth process of going from being enemies and being friends continue?

As Winston Churchill said "Is [WWII] the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning?" Applied to this article, President's Trump's diplomatic coup is of a move toward peace in the Middle East in that troubled region.

Under Trump's guidance, Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi made peace on August 13, 2020. Both were enemies of Iran. After the deal, the two became friends and pledged to expand the peace process throughout the Middle East: International politics is about, "addition not subtraction."

Trump announced that he expected normalization would bring two of America's most reliable regional partners together.

Jerusalem and the Abu Dhabi joined Washington to launch a strategic agenda for the entire Middle East; it expands diplomatic, trade and security cooperation.

Before this treaty, only autocratic Jordan and Egypt had diplomatic relations with Israel. Arab regimes had rejected democratic Israel's proposals to have diplomatic relations.

Such rejections remind me of a memorable quote former Foreign Minister of Israel, Abba Eban told me, when I taught at the Hebrew Jerusalem of Israel: "Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

On August 13, NBC News reported on the Palestinians' reaction to the deal and asked, "With [Arab] friends like these, who needs enemies?"

Palestinians began reciting a version of this adage on a day after UAE said it agreed to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel in a U.S.-brokered deal, according to Ghaith al-Omari of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where I served as a Visiting Scholar.

Washington, Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi share a similar outlook regarding threats and windows of opportunities in the region. The new trio of friends, who were once enemies, now share a commitment to promoting stability through diplomatic engagement.

The goal is increased economic integration and close security coordination. The accord might lead to better lives for the peoples of the Jerusalem, UAE, and the region, per the text of the treaty.

On August 13, 2020, NBC News reported, Washington, Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi, made "a diplomatic win-win-win." President Trump said UAE would have diplomatic relations with Jerusalem if Israel dropped its plan to annex parts of the West Bank of the Jordan River.

After serving in the Israeli embassy in Washington, (1982-84), Benjamin Netanyahu became Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. (1984-88).

Like every Israeli premier before him, "BiBi" told me, when I was an official in the Reagan White House (1981-82): "Diplomatic relations with Arab and Muslim countries were a key piece of his diplomatic agenda. Israeli prime ministers pursue a strategy of reaching out to Muslim non-Arab states to counter threats from Arab states and Palestinians."

To block the Islamic Republic of Iran, maximum pressure by Washington, protests by the Iranian resistance, and Israeli covert actions against Iran have the best chance of effecting political change in Iran. See my piece posted in Newsmax, "Trump's Strategy Keeps Maximum Pressure on Iran."

Regarding President Trump's policy, going forward, recall that, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

America, led by our president, is friendly with both Israel and the Arab Gulf States. Hence, he scores a humongous policy victory against Tehran, with assistance of our friends —Jerusalem, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi — against their common enemy — Iran. Indeed, President Trump may preside over the end of the Arab Cold War.