Israel’s Bid for Peace: A Test of the Abraham Accords’ Legacy

Israel’s current bid for peace with Syria and Lebanon, as articulated by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday, will serve as a significant test of the Abraham Accords’ legacy. The 2020 agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco paved the way for Arab-Israeli normalization, albeit with deep unpopularity in the Arab world, a challenge that will likely resurface with further diplomatic pushes.
Saar emphasized Israel’s interest in bringing Syria and Lebanon into the “circle of peace,” driven by the belief that Iran’s influence has waned after the recent 12-day war. However, he firmly stated that the Golan Heights, annexed by Israel in 1981, remains non-negotiable, setting up an immediate point of contention with Syria and the broader international community.
The regional context for this overture is complex, marked by nearly two years of conflict in Gaza, Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the recent overthrow of Iran-backed Bashar al-Assad in Syria. These shifts, Israel believes, create a unique window for new diplomatic alignments and broader regional stability.
However, any potential progress faces a significant hurdle in the form of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. A senior Syrian official reiterated that normalization must be part of this initiative, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Israel’s Foreign Minister Saar explicitly rejected this precondition, stating that a Palestinian state would pose a security threat, highlighting a fundamental disagreement that could derail diplomatic aspirations.