On 17.12.2020, the following article entitled "The passage from Jerusalem" by the journalist Mr. Victor Eliezer was published on the huffingtonpost website.
"It is surprising that two hard-line leaders - Trump and Netanyahu - managed to achieve the normalization of the relations of four important Arab states with Israel, within 4 months. United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, changed its shape Jewish state in their own public opinion, from a "cancer" that must be eradicated from the region to a state "partner" in business and as a factor of stability. The Israelis rejoice and prove that they can coexist peacefully and harmoniously with the Arabs and their culture.
Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday marking monotheism's resistance to idolatry, is celebrated publicly in Bahrain, investors from UAE buys 50% of Israeli soccer team Beitar Jerusalem, whose fans hate everything Arab, and soon direct flights from Tel Aviv to Rabat will begin. Arabs and Israelis renew their acquaintance after the violent displacement of 450000 Jews from Arab countries.
Jewish history and Jewish culture will be included in the school curriculum in Morocco, for the first time in a country where Islam is the state religion. The lessons will be included from next year for children in the last year of primary school, aged 11, Morocco's education ministry said. Morocco's Jewish community has existed since ancient times and its population grew over the centuries, especially with the arrival of Jews expelled from Spain after 1492. In the late 1940s, Jewish Moroccans numbered around 250.000 - approx. 10% of the population. The vast majority were forced to leave the country after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and the Jewish community today numbers around 3.000 members.
What were the factors that caused this mutation? The power of technology with the discovery of alternative sources of energy that caused the weakening of the oil giants, or is it the fear of the Iranian threat and the terrorism of the Islamic State that endangers the regimes of the kingdoms of these countries? Whatever the answer, no one can deny that the normalization of these relations can only bring benefits and of course stability.
The contribution of American President Trump was catalytic. Donald Trump's display of power found fertile ground in the political intelligence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a chemistry was created between them that led, already in the first year of his presidency, to the transfer of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, despite the fierce reactions of moderate and radical Muslim regimes. It can the "deal" of the century, proposed by President Trump, was not reached between Israelis and Palestinians, but Washington had decided to remove from the Palestinians' quiver the negotiating paper of the normalization of Israel's relations with the Arab-Muslim world. First creation of a Palestinian state, then normalization. The Americans, however, saw the agenda differently. UAE wanted F35 warplanes – Pass through Jerusalem first… Morocco wanted recognition of sovereignty over Western Sahara – Pass through Jerusalem first… Sudan wanted it removed from terrorist country map – Pass through Jerusalem first… And next are Oman, Djibouti, Indonesia and Nigeria. In this way, Israel ceases to symbolize the devil in the eyes of the Muslim world. This is exactly what they want to avoid Palestinians. But at the same time, it is the great opportunity to solve the problem. And if they do not realize this soon, they will be isolated from the Arab world and the two-state solution for two peoples will be in danger of entering the history book. The Arabs, Israel's friends, can put more pressure than its Arab enemies, who to date have only suffered losses.
Despite his pro-Israel stance, Donald Trump has never been able to win the trust of the vast majority of American Jews, apart from the ultra-Orthodox and those who fully identify with the Israeli prime minister's policies. In the recent elections 75% of American Jews voted for the duo Joe Biden - Kamala Harris, precisely because they never tolerated the racist crowns of Donald Trump, which many times even touched them and which caused a rapid increase in anti-Semitic phenomena in America in the last 4 years. The new president-elect Joe Biden, who has always supported the two-state solution, will have to regain the trust of the Palestinians, and at the same time prevent Israel from any move to annex the West Bank, while still recognizing Jerusalem as the state's capital of Israel. Of course, no negotiation can succeed if the parties involved do not decide to find a solution. For Palestinians, a solution means creating an independent state – for Israelis, a solution means preserving the security and democratic and Jewish character of the state of Israel. But it is far from certain that their leaders, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, want a solution that will displease their partners in power, who in both cases reject any kind of compromise.
In Israel, Netanyahu is convinced that finally with intransigence he achieved in practice what his intransigent political opponents proclaim in words. His stay in power "costs" transparency, social cohesion and what some romantics call "beautiful Israel". But the institutions seem to endure and keep democracy in Israel standing: The Israeli army guarantees the security of all citizens, and is recognized as the backbone of Israeli society and the Justice that ensures the equality of all citizens, including himself of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sooner or later will face her verdict.
In any case, Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump are recorded in history as the leaders who made Jerusalem a "passage" for the gradual normalization of the Arab-Muslim world's relations with the state of Israel.
SOURCE: HUFFINGTONPOST, 17.12.2020