The Arab-Israeli Peace Cascade Sudan becomes the latest Arab nation to normalize relations.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-arab-israeli-peace-cascade-11603494933?mod=opinion_lead_pos4
Middle East failures contributed to Republican defeats in 2008 and Democratic defeats in 2016. If Donald Trump loses in 2020, it will be for different reasons. The U.S.-brokered deals normalizing relations between Israel and Arab states are a highlight of his Presidency, and on Friday the White House announced Sudan would join the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in ending its diplomatic boycott of the Jewish state.
These moves have been utterly confounding to Obama Administration alumni. They were certain that a pro-Israel foreign policy would inflame the Arab world, and that Mideast progress depended on accommodating the regime in Iran. In fact, Israel is the region’s chief source of stability and Iran its main source of terror and mayhem, and the Trump Administration treated them accordingly.
It has paid off. The first peace announcement came in August between Israel and the UAE, which had been working together covertly to beat back Iranian influence in the Persian Gulf. Next came Bahrain, another Sunni Gulf monarchy threatened by Shiite Iran.
The agreement by Sudan, a North African country of more than 40 million, to normalize Israel ties shows that the peace cascade goes beyond the Persian Gulf and could extend across the Arab world. Sudan’s leadership has been moderating, and the Trump Administration recently negotiated a tentative agreement for Sudan to compensate victims of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings.
Mr. Trump said Friday more countries want to follow Sudan, and why wouldn’t they? Economic integration with the region’s top economy is a source of jobs and prosperity. Arab states still care about the Palestinian cause, but withholding recognition from the Jewish state has yielded little progress on a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, Iran and Turkey are throwing their weight around in an already unstable security landscape, and U.S. public appetite for Mideast involvement is waning. The U.S. establishment brought a sentimental approach to Arab-Israeli peace; these deals are the most concrete vindication of Mr. Trump’s foreign-policy realism.
The 2020 election won’t be decided on foreign policy. But if Mr. Trump loses, a Biden Administration is less likely to be weighed down by a fractured Mideast. That would be a great asset as the U.S. confronts a growing challenge from China.
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