The Abraham Accords are still the best way forward for peace in the region, a Conservative former British minister said. Liam Fox, chairman of the UK Abraham Accords Group, said its aim was to provide greater stability, opportunity and hope, despite the “horrible” conflict of the past year in Gaza.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Fox said a debt of gratitude was owed to the UAE government for its long-term vision.
“The government in the UAE has shown courage and foresight in everything that they brought to the Abraham Accords and a level of leadership that I think few others would be able to match,” Mr Fox told The National in Abu Dhabi.
“I think their willingness to see the Abraham Accords as a very important strategic objective that should not be swayed by short-term events … is very commendable and brave.”
The accords established relations between Israel and several Arab countries. The UAE and Bahrain signed the agreement – brokered by the US under Donald Trump, US president at the time – in September 2020 to establish formal ties with Israel. Morocco and Sudan signed accords later.
The “enduring importance of the Abraham Accords and continuing on the path of peace, integration and prosperity in the region” was highlighted in a joint UAE-US statement on Monday.
Impact of war on Gaza
When asked if the war in Gaza altered the situation, Mr Fox said it would be “totally unrealistic” to think there had not been strains, but it had also brought examples of Emirati humanitarianism such as building hospitals, bringing injured and ill people to the UAE for treatment and delivering vital aid. He said it also allowed the voice of Gazans to be heard.
“In among the horrors, there's still been a level of co-operation that's brought humanitarian care,” said the former UK defence and international trade secretary. “I think that's a positive thing within what's been a horrible conflict.”
Threat from Iran
War is escalating in the region, but Mr Fox said he did not believe the accords had given Israel free rein. It was important to remember one of the driving forces of the agreement was the common threat of Iran, he added.
“The Hamas attacks, the Houthi attacks and Hezbollah are all emphasising that Iranian influence in the region is as malign and as widespread as it ever was,” he said. “And so poses a genuine threat to the region … any backtracking is a victory for Iran. Iran does not want the Abraham Accords to succeed.”
Mr Fox noted a strong commitment to maintaining the alignment of the accords because there will be a post-Gaza war period.
“There's been a level of co-operation to minimise civilian hardship during the current crisis, which I think will also have built its own links, its own bridges, and if the parties involved have not realised to this point how dangerous Iran is … they've [now] learnt that," he said.
“I think [the accords are] still the most positive instrument that exists to be able to create a different type of future,” he said of a process that is now “largely irreversible”.
“There's an understanding that Israel has a right to defend itself but there's a strong feeling that the people of Gaza have paid a disproportionate price,” he added.
“Whether countries will take the same view of Hezbollah in Lebanon as they've taken of Gaza is another question. But it doesn't change that essential view that the Abraham Accords are a strategic objective that needs to be maintained.”
Impact of UK and US elections
Mr Fox served in the top echelons of UK government for years. While no longer an MP, he said the change in government this year in which Labour swept to power, with Keir Starmer elected as Prime Minister, would not really bring a major change in policy. “Foreign policy is pretty stable,” he said. “I’m not expecting anything too dramatic.”
Regarding the ban on certain companies selling arms to Israel, Mr Fox said the UK does not supply weapons directly to Israel but firms can have private contracts.
“The current government has made the decision that a number of those contracts fall on the … wrong side of the line – the previous government took a different view.”
Mr Fox, however, called for greater engagement from the UK in the region from boosting its physical presence here to signing trade agreements, more bilateral investment and stepping up the use of joint ventures, where the financial burden is shared.
Turning to the US election set for November 5, Mr Fox said the feeling is that President Joe Biden's administration is no longer able to make big decisions.
Whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris are voted into the White House, Mr Fox said he was sure either camp would want the answer to be that the survival of the Abraham Accords is entirely dependent on them but, whatever the outcome, fresh initiative was needed.
“[The accords] are the only really positive diplomatic entity that exists at the present time so whoever becomes president will need to build upon it," he said.
Listening tour of the region
Mr Fox has been a friend of the region for years. In 2021 he was asked by the ambassadors of the UAE, Bahrain and Israel to lead the institution in the UK to promote the Abraham Accords.
He will visit Israel next and then Bahrain and Morocco. Mr Fox said trade and investment stemming from the agreement had been good for the UAE and Israel but more could be done with Bahrain and Morocco.
“I would say to anybody who doubted the value of the Abraham Accords, go to the Abrahamic [Family] House,” he said, referring to the site in Abu Dhabi which houses a mosque, church and synagogue.
“Just sit in there and reflect upon the two paths that you could have: one of reconciliation, mutual respect and peace. And the other is violence, recrimination and instability – and ask which of those two paths give young people in this region the chance of a better future?”
