The Middle East
The announcement of an agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to fully normalize relations stood more than a half century of Western wisdom about the dynamics of the Middle East on its head. The starting point for all analysis of the situation has been that the key issue in the entire Middle East is the Palestinian problem. Solve that, so the wisdom goes, and everything else will fall into place. Fail to solve that, and you have solved nothing.
However...
The pending agreement between Israel and the UAE, though it did mention the Palestinian issue, substantially bypasses Palestinians. If the agreement is consummated and followed by further agreements that are rumored, it will show that "peace for peace" is a reasonable basis for agreements, and in fact the Palestinian issue may even eventually fall into place.
A lot of observers are in denial. An article on CNN by Nic Robertson entitled, "Israel-UAE agreement a meek version of the historic Mideast deal Trump pledged," rather than recognizing the new trail blazed by the agreement, argues that it is less than spectacular because it does nothing to advance the "key" Palestinian question.
A similar dynamic was visible in Israel. Several months ago, when there were rumors about contacts between Israel and the United Emirates, a previous prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was interviewed by the media. He is one of those who obsessively hates Netanyahu, and he categorically denied all such possibilities, saying, "No Arab country nor any moderate Sunni government will ever maintain overt relations with Israel. This is simply nonsense. So long as the Palestinian problem has not been solved, there is no chance that these countries will take as much as a single step to reveal concealed contacts we may possibly have made until the Palestinian problem is still extant."
Very clear-cut unequivocal words. "No chance whatsoever," said the man, that any Arabic country will maintain open relations with Israel.
And lo and behold, all of a sudden it appears that there does exist such a possibility, an even good one at that. The United Arab Emirates are about to sign a peace treaty with Israel without the Palestinian problem having been resolved or with any such solution even in the offing. So, admittedly, the question of sovereignty falls by the wayside, as for over fifty years, hundreds of thousands of Jews have resided in Judea and Samaria even without [Palestinian] sovereignty. This has nothing to do with the solution of the Palestinian predicament.
The United Arab Emirates
The new reality in the region has defined the Palestinians as a nuisance in the eyes of some Arab nations, once they realized that there is no chance of the Palestinians agreeing to any arrangement whatsoever with Israel. Who, better than Ehud Olmert, who suggested to Abu Mazen establishing a Palestinian country on 97% of the Judea-Samaria region, including part of East Jerusalem up till the Kosel, knows that there is no one from the Palestinian side who could arrive at such an agreement with Israel which would not dissolve the Zionist state and transport its residents across the ocean.
As expected, after the recent announcements, Olmert was invited to the media studios to confront him with his previous declaration for his rebuttal. How nice it would have been if he had simply retracted and said, "I erred." Everyone can make a mistake. But Olmert did not flinch and said, "What I said has now materialized. Not with my scenario nor with the setup I visualized, but in essence."
And he launched into a convoluted even infantile explanation: "They forced Netanyahu to forego the annexation, give up on any continued construction in the settlements and to accept the principle of a Palestinian state..."
Unbelievable! The annexation would never have come to fruition in any case because the Americans were not interested in it. Construction in the settlements will continue with no condition made to arrest it. The principle of a Palestinian state is, at any rate, not viable or probable.
The persistent interviewer was determined to ask Olmert where there was a condition regarding stoppage of construction in the settlements and he replied, "There are certain things which Netanyahu prefers not to publicize."
How does Olmert know this? Because it must be true according to established wisdom.
Perhaps this is due to age or frustration, or maybe both combined. But this man, and he is not the only one in this present story, finds it difficult to express a single word which would prevent him from saying the other inane expressions he mouthed.
