Why Israel-UAE Deal Doesn't Merit the Hype

commentary

Aug 18, 2020

Israeli and Emirati flags flutter along a highway following the agreement to formalize ties between the two countries, Netanya, Israel, August 17, 2020, photo by Nir Elias/Reuters

Israeli and Emirati flags flutter along a highway following the agreement to formalize ties between the two countries, Netanya, Israel, August 17, 2020

Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters

This commentary originally appeared on Al-Monitor on August 17, 2020.

Republicans and Democrats have hailed the Israel-UAE normalization agreement, with some observers going so far as to call it a geopolitical earthquake. But does the agreement merit the hype?

One way to look at the question is to consider what genuine regional shakeups have looked like in the past…

The remainder of this commentary is available at al-monitor.com.


Dalia Dassa Kaye is a senior political scientist and director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

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