Intelligence reports show that Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7 was prepared over several years, with active support and guidance from Iran. The timing of the attack was motivated, to some extent, by the rapid advances in the US-led normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the weeks preceding the attack. Such a normalization could undermine the goals of both Hamas and the Iranian regime, who realized that a normalization pact would stymie their efforts to delegitimize and ultimately destroy Israel. For now, it seems their plot has partially succeeded; the normalization process came to a screeching halt and there are growing signs of tension and irritation among the Arab signatories of the Abraham Accords (the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco) that may lead to the collapse of these agreements or their deterioration to the “cold peace” that describes relations between Israel and two of its other peace partners – Egypt and Jordan.

While the war in Gaza rages on, it is not too early for the Biden administration to consider how can it best respond to efforts aimed to derail one of its most ambitious strategic moves – expanding the circle of Arab nations that want regional peace. The US accomplished this initially by standing firmly by Israel, providing it with much needed military and financial aid, and defending it in the UN and other international bodies. This did not go unnoticed by America’s Arab allies.

But will this be enough to revive the normalization effort? Probably not. There are other possible moves similar to those taken by the US soon after WWII. This would include launching a Marshall plan equivalent to address the civilian needs of Gaza, similar to the US assistance granted to western Europe, which was largely ruined by that time. This could also include creating a Middle East NATO equivalent to address the security threat posed by Iran, similar to the way a multilateral organization was created to counter the USSR after WWII.

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