Senior UAE official says 'Abraham Accords are there to stay' despite Israel-Hamas war

The chairman of the Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee of the UAE Federal National Council said this week that the Abraham Accords are not going anywhere, despite the war in Gaza.

Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi played a leading role in historic Abraham Accords in 2020, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries.

“From the United Arab Emirates perspective, the Abraham Accords are there to stay,” Nuaimi, who also serves on the ALL ARAB NEWS Advisory Board, stated during a special online briefing organized by the European Jewish Association (EJA) together with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Nuaimi added that whenever there is a war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, people ask if it will negatively affect normalization between Israel and the Arab signatories of the Accords. 

“This [is] the third war in Gaza. Whenever there is something happening in Gaza, people come to us and ask: ‘What do you think of the Abraham Accords. Are you going to change?”

The senior UAE official stressed that the agreements are the basis of a future transformed Middle East.

“The Accords are our future. It is not an agreement between two governments but a platform that we believe should transform the region where everyone will enjoy security, stability and prosperity,” he said.

Nuaimi also declared that the accords are agreements between peoples, not just governments, and that they are the basis for the Arab acceptance of the Jewish state in the region.

“This is a people-to-people engagement. This is what we need. We want everyone to acknowledge and accept that Israel is there to exist and that the roots of Jews, Christian[s] are not in New York or Paris but here in our region. They are part of our history, and they should be part of our future.”

Nuaimi stated his opposition to Hamas and his desire to change the status quo.

“We want to change the educational system and religious narrative. It is very important to understand that there are enemies for what we are doing. Those terrorist organizations don’t respect human life. Don’t let them achieve their goals. No person with a human feeling and common sense will agree with the barbarian terrorist attack that Hamas committed on October 7. No one,” he said.

Nuaimi also denounced the hatred that has been on display in Europe and the U.S. during pro-Hamas demonstrations and spoke about the need to counter the message of hate in those demonstrations.

“We need those who believe in peace in Europe, the U.S. and everywhere to counter the hate narrative that we see in demonstrations in Paris and London,” he urged.

Every Arab signatory of the Abraham accords – the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan – voted against condemning the Oct. 7 massacre of civilians by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel.

Egypt and Jordan, both of which have signed peace treaties with Israel, also voted against it. 

Amid the current war between Israel and Hamas, the UAE has issued statements condemning both Hamas’ assault on Israel and Israel’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip.