The Impact of the Gulf-Israeli Normalization on the Palestinian cause “UAE as a case study” رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

The historical Arab national classification of Israel as an enemy to the Arab and Islamic States is no more an accurate definition of Arab nationalism. The study aims to discuss several themes to diagnose the recent wave of normalization. These themes are analyzed through measuring the political, and economic changes in the national image toward Israel. The acceleration of the Gulf and Arab states to normalize their relationship with Israel reveals many years of secret engagement that became lastly an official marriage. The study aims to highlight the changes that occurred to the ruling class in the Gulf States that resulted in breaking a long-lasting commitment of their fathers and grandfathers to the Palestinian cause. The study also examines the purposes that could urge other Arab and Islamic states

to normalize their relationship with Israel.

The signing ceremony of the so-called Abraham accords back in September 2020 between UAR, Bahrain and Israel, and the silence welcome of several Gulf and Arab states, draws a new era of Arab-Israeli Multilateral cooperation. It also declined centuries of Arab commitment to the Palestinian cause at one hand, and viewing Israel as a brutal colonizer at the other. However, since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace accords back in 1978. There was a new introduction of peace in the Arab-Israeli context, under the political well of “Normalization”. The study overlooks the definition of normalization in the conflict resolution field, and compare it with the Arab-Israel peace agreements since Camp David accords. The study also overview normalization from an Israel perspective to highlight the Israeli political and economic vision of maintaining peace agreements with their previous

long-lasting enemies. The position of the Palestinian government post normalization was very aggressive toward

normalizing countries, as they considered it a “stab in the back’ due to their breaching of the

Arab initiative signed in Beirut in 2002. The Arab initiative that calls for an Israeli

withdrawal of 1967 borders and a comprehensive solution for the Palestinian refugees, in return of normalization with Israel. However, the study examines the impact of normalization on the Palestinian internal division between West Bank and Gaza. It also overviews the possibility of re-conciliation between conflicting parties and examines the

strategy of the Palestinian government to confront normalization.

The study uses a quantitative methodology through developed Questionnaire that aims to collect data, and analyze the political, and economic impact of the Gulf -—Israeli normalization on the Palestinian cause. The final approach of the study is to give recommendation for Palestinian policy makers, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates to confront the normalization wave. This study also addresses a clear strategy upon the researcher academic and statistical analysis to overcome the harm of normalization on the Palestinian cause, and draw a fact map to deal with it. The capacity of statistical data is determined through the size of the population used in the questionnaire to overcome the political, and economic impact of normalization on the Palestinian cause. The study concluded that the total degree of the political impact of the Gulf-Israeli normalization on the Palestinian foreign policy is 3.7. It also concluded that there is a high degree among the respondents regarding the need for reformation in the Palestinian diplomacy to be able to

confront the normalization wave.