Only Egypt and Jordan were able to normalize relations with Israel until 2019 since the Zionist State of Israel was established in 1948 as a result of the killing and forcible eviction of Palestinians from their homes, lands, villages, and cities.
Israel, Egypt, and Jordan have diplomatic ties with each other on a bilateral basis, and they also fly directly together and engage in thriving economic activity. The Abraham Accords, which are agreements for normalization between Israel, the UAE, and the Kingdom of Bahrain, were mediated by the former US President Donald Trump in 2020.
According to the normalization agreements, the three nations began to have normal relations, cooperate with one another, and exchange diplomatic missions and flights. The new Arab normalizer states saw the new normalization agreements with Israel as historic chances for shared cooperation and coordination at the levels of regional security and trade.
Morocco will be the third Arab nation to normalize ties with the Zionist State before the year 2020 is out. Normal relations between the two nations were established, and so far, several agreements have been signed between them. Leaders of the Sudanese coup have declared that they will normalize ties with Israel. Although this did not occur, there have been high-level visits and meetings between senior officials on the ground.
The limited anti-normalization protests on the streets and in the media were most prevalent in Arab nations that normalized relations with Israel. All of them are autocratic nations with authoritarian governments. These governments have made it illegal to criticize the normalization process and mandated the start of media campaigns that glorify Israel and demonize the Palestinians.
All anti-normalization activities were stopped, and only international media outlets covered anti-normalization news. All parties to the normalization process, though, continue to feel uneasy around the Arab countries. When the Egyptian 25 January Revolution broke out in 2011, despite the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt being 33 years old, the Egyptians pushed the Israeli ambassador to Cairo out and closed the Israeli embassy, as if there had never been any relations between the two countries.
Immediately following the military coup that toppled the late, first-ever freely elected Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, anti-Israel sentiment was suppressed. Given the widespread hostility toward Israel in the Arab world, Israel and the normalizers among the Arab nations have cautiously maintained their mutual ties and contacts.
FIFA World Cup
FIFA, Israel, and Qatar came to a temporary agreement so that Israeli football fans could fly directly from Tel Aviv to Doha to attend the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament. Qatar does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
The Jerusalem Post reported that only 3,500 people registered as Israelis out of an estimated 10-20,000 Israelis who purchased tickets for the World Cup in Qatar. Lior Haiat, head of Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate, said three days prior to the tournament’s start that it was difficult for Israel to find a private airline to begin direct flights between Israel and Qatar.
Since the World Cup competition began, international supporters have demonstrated fervent support for Palestine and the Palestinian cause while displaying anti-Israeli sentiment. In order to conduct interviews for their reports, Israeli journalists were unable to locate any Arab or even foreign fans. Israeli officials have been compelled to assess the Arab normalizers’ adherence to the Abraham Accords in light of the outpouring of support for Palestine and criticism of the Israeli Occupation.
