The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has opened its embassy in Israel, housed in Tel Aviv's new stock exchange in the latest normalization move under a deal brokered by the then US President Donald Trump last year.

But what about the Palestinian cause? It is quite clear that normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE and between Israel and Bahrain has weakened a long-standing pan-Arab position that calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory and acceptance of Palestinian statehood in return for normal relations with Arab countries, although Saudi Arabia claims that it still stands with the Palestinian people until they reclaim their legitimate rights. It is, therefore, needless to say that the big diplomatic prize for an Israel deal will be Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter. Normalizing relations with the kingdom will be a mega coup for Israel. It's only a matter of time before this happens.

Nadir Shah (Islamabad)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021