‘It’s Been Amazing’: Joel Rosenberg Shares How Abraham Accords Are Dramatically Reshaping Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – In the 14 months following the signing of the Abraham Accords, relations between Israel and many of its Arab neighbors are flourishing. Several world leaders are surprised over the dramatic progress. 

In one of the latest signs of cooperation, Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a joint venture to send an unmanned vehicle to the moon by 2024. That followed a surprise visit last month during a multi-national military exercise – when the commander of the UAE air force met with his Israeli counterpart.   

On the commercial front, this Israeli Expo in Abu Dhabi is another sign of success resulting from the historic peace agreement.   

“It’s been amazing the progress,” said best-selling author and Mideast analyst Joel Rosenberg. “We’ve been watching business deals to be developed, tourism deals. We're seeing, The Jerusalem Post forming a media alliance with an Emirati newspaper and TV company. We're seeing Israeli airlines open up direct routes to Arab countries – the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco. We're seeing Moroccan and Emirati and Bahraini airlines flying direct routes into Israel.”

Rosenberg chronicles the creation and progress of the accords in his latest book, Allies and Enemies. CBN News has followed Rosenberg as he’s organized delegations of evangelical leaders to meet with Arab heads of state.

"I've sat with them. I've listened to them," said Rosenberg. "The Arab leaders are very, very excited, not just [about] what's [happened] in the last year and a few months, but where this is going."

One of the agreement’s architects, Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, tells CBN News he sees a bright future for the Abraham Accords. 

“I think this changed history. I don't think it's going to go back. I think the people of these nations can see that this is the rightful Jewish homeland. It ought to be recognized as such,” said Pompeo. “It's not good foreign policy to have the destruction of Israel at the center of how you think about the world. And the commerce, the trade, the defense work that will be done between these nations will create prosperity for people in every one of them. And I think that's why ultimately there'll be many other nations that will see this as both right and righteous.” 

In Israel, what began under the Netanyahu government is continuing with aggressive pursuit by the coalition of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Still, a lingering concern is whether the Biden administration will invest the political capital and diplomatic muscle to advance the accords. 

A recent trilateral meeting between the US, UAE, and Israel led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggests a positive direction.

"Today, our three countries discussed two new working groups that we are launching together. The first is on religious coexistence. This is a moment of rising anti-Semitism, rising Islamophobia, and we want Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States to work together to build tolerance and ensure that all religious groups can worship in their traditional ways without violence, without intimidation, without discrimination,” said Blinken.

Another remaining question one year into the accords is will Saudi Arabia, the largest and most influential Sunni Arab nation will take steps to join.