West Asia's new deal

Israel-UAE agreement hardens political fault lines

The unexpected peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), brokered by the United States, finally removes the fig leaf on the reality of the relations between the Arab world and West Asia’s sole Zionist nation. Despite public differences on the Palestinian question, the two power blocs have collaborated under the radar for decades — as far back as the 1960s, in fact — and Israel’s two major adversaries, Egypt and Jordan, extended formal recognition in 1979 and 1984 respectively. It is widely recognised that the UAE is unlikely to have signed the resumption of full diplomatic relations