Will the Israel-UAE Agreement Bring Peace or Instability to the Middle East?

What are the regional implications of the recently-signed Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement? The agreement has been heralded as a new breakthrough in Israel’s relations with the Arab world and has won bi-partisan support in Washington. Many experts believe that this accord will lead other Arab states to normalize relations with Israel, and that Israel in turn will freeze plans to further annex areas of the West Bank. Yet there are many voices both in and outside the region who believe the agreement will further increase tensions with key regional players, especially Turkey, Iran and the Palestinians.

The Center for the National Interest hosted a webinar on Tuesday, September 1 to discuss these complicated issues. Geoffrey Kemp, Senior Director of Regional Security Programs at the Center for the National Interest, moderated the discussion which featured an extremely well-informed panel of experts:

Ambassador Dennis Ross is counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Ambassador Ross’s distinguished diplomatic career includes service as special assistant to President Barack Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region, special advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Middle East Envoy to President Bill Clinton, and Director of Policy Planning for President George H.W. Bush.

Henri Barkey Henri J. Barkey is the Bernard L. and Bertha F. Cohen Professor at Lehigh University, and adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He previously served as a member of the State Department Policy Planning Staff under President Bill Clinton.

Shai Feldman is the President of Sapir Academic College, the largest public college in Israel. He previously served as the Judith and Sidney Swartz Director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies and Professor of Politics at Brandeis University and has written several books on both Israel and the politics of the Middle East.