The visibility of ties with Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE has changed since Hamas’s attacks on October 7, but Israel’s newest Arab partners remain committed to strategic choice When the Bahraini and Emirati foreign ministers stood proudly on either side of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to sign the Abraham Accords four years ago, all four men — and their governments — imagined an era of steadily expanding ties between Israel and the Arab world.

“We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history,” Trump beamed from a balcony overlooking the South Lawn. “After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”

Netanyahu said the new peace momentum could end the Arab-Israeli conflict “once and for all.”

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed predicted that the accord’s “reverberations will be reflected on the entire region.”

“For too long, the Middle East has been set back by conflict and mistrust, causing untold destruction” and thwarting hopes of the region’s “youngest and brightest,” lamented Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani. “Now I am convinced we can change that.” But as the men were waxing poetic about the new era that the accords were about to usher in, events back in Israel foreshadowed how elusive that future would be. Sirens sounded in southern Israel as rockets were fired out of Gaza. “The normalization agreements between Bahrain, the UAE and the Zionist entity are not worth the paper they were written on,” a spokesman for Hamas said. “Our people insist on continuing its struggle until it secures the return of all its rights.”

Almost no one outside of Hamas understood at the time how determined the terror group was to expand the fight against Israel. After Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on October 7, and the subsequent Israeli operation to conquer Gaza and topple Hamas, it is clear to all the players who were at the White House four years ago, as well as the rest of the world, that the peace agreements could not prevent Iranian-backed terror groups from dragging Israel back into war. On the fourth anniversary of the Abraham Accords — which were followed by normalization between Israel and Morocco — it is clear that the nature of Jerusalem’s ties with its newest Arab partners has changed as a result of the war. At the same time, while 11 months of war between Israel and Hamas have put significant strain on the accords, there are also reasons for optimism about the durability of Israel’s relationships with the Arab world.

A strategic decision

Officials familiar with topic don’t deny the tension the war against Hamas has placed on its relations with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.

“Naturally, the war creates a very significant test in relations, and creates some tension with countries that have peace agreements,” one official told The Times of Israel last week. Since the war started, the only overt visits by senior Israeli officials were made by President Isaac Herzog and Finance Minister Nir Barkat. Both were in the UAE to take part in international events, not in a bilateral capacity.

New cooperation agreements, signed in highly publicized ceremonies before the war, have also been suspended. At the same time, officials emphasize that despite the “very low glass ceiling” the war has placed on the relationships, one fact is undeniable — the accords are here to stay.

“Despite the tensions, the understanding is that there is a clear ratification of the path from all of the partners, and that the strategic choice of peace and cooperation is the correct choice,” an official involved in the Abraham Accords told The Times of Israel.

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