The Impact of the Abraham Accords on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002
The Impact of the Abraham Accords on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002

Summary/Abstract: The Arab Peace Initiative, adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States in 2002, expressed a common opinion of the League’s member states regarding the conditions for bringing the Middle Eastern conflict to an end and continuing the normalization of Arab-Israeli relations, making the latter dependent on prior fulfilment of these conditions (i.e., Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, finding a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, and Israel’s acceptance of an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders). The conclusion of the 2020 Abraham Accords marked a departure from this principle. This, along with the reactions from other League members, indicated that Israel’s compliance with the Initiative’s requirements was no longer unanimously considered by the Arab states as a prerequisite for further normalization of bilateral Arab-Israeli relations. This had a negative impact on the position of the Palestinian authorities in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, especially since it was reasonable to expect other Arab states to also make similar agreements with Israel. Today, in light of the tragedy in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s response to the Hamas attack in October 2023, while further development of the idea of the Abraham Accords is arguably still not out of the question, a scenario is also possible that the normalization process will not resume without a resolution to the Palestinian question as envisioned by the Initiative, or at least significant Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.

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