Not only have Bahrain and Oman joined Egypt in vocally supporting the United Arab Emirates in formalizing relations in Israel, but now, the two Arab nations are reportedly in talks to follow suit and establish their own diplomatic relations with the Middle East’s sole democracy, according to Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen.
“I think that Bahrain and Oman are definitely on the agenda. In addition, in my assessment, there is a chance that already in the coming year there will be a peace deal with additional countries in Africa, chief among them, Sudan,” Cohen told Army Radio.
President Trump’s joint announcement with the UAE and Israel was landmark enough on its own. The normalization marks the first between Israel and another Middle Eastern nation since President Bill Clinton helped broker the peace deal between Israel and Jordan in 1994. A single new formalization is a big deal that it is, and for other nations to join, especially as Iran grows unusually embattled, would constitute a monumental realignment of the axis of power in the Gulf.
And, of course, it would undercut the entire thesis of the de facto Obama Doctrine that assumed peace in the Middle East was contingent of empowering Iran and cowering to the Hamas and Hezbollah.
The White House national security adviser concurs with Cohen’s assessment, telling NBC News that the Trump administration has indeed been in talks with several other Middle Eastern nations. The result could look like the antithesis of Obama’s goal, with Gulf nations and other north African nations joining Egypt to create an axis of peace engaged in (an extremely) slow walk toward liberalization while the alliances of terror organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah relegated to an increasingly isolated Turkey and impotent Iran. Predictions that Trump’s decision to move our embassy to Jerusalem would result in mass death and violence continue to look contrary to the reality of a Middle East with peace looking more and more possible.
The Obama Doctrine has been disproven, and Trump’s approach to the Middle East is clearly focused in the right direction. The real political question to come: Will the Israel-friendly Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris cut their losses and follow Trump or go down with the ship to preserve Obama’s crumbling legacy?
