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Home > Open Access Journals > JSS > Vol. 18 > No. 3 (2025)

 

Author Biography

Eli Sperling has traveled and conducted research extensively throughout the Middle East, spending significant time in Israel, Cairo, and the Sinai Peninsula. He holds an MA in Middle Eastern history and received his PhD in September 2019 from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 2012–2020, Eli served as the Senior Academic Research Coordinator at Emory University’s Institute for the Study of Modern Israel and taught as a guest professor in Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies from 2019–2020. From 2020-2022, Eli was a Postdoctoral Associate in Duke University’s Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and currently serves as the Israel Institute Teaching Fellow in the University of Georgia’s Department of International Affairs. His research focuses on transnational Zionist identities, institutions, and Middle Eastern diplomacy, security, and politics. He teaches courses on Israeli and Middle Eastern politics and the US-Israel relationship. He is the author of Singing the Land: Hebrew Music and Early Zionism in America.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.18.3.2403

Subject Area Keywords

Defense policy, Development and security, Economics, Ethnic conflict, Ideology, International relations, Iran, Israel, Middle East, National security, Public diplomacy, Regional conflict, Security policy

Abstract

The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, marked a significant shift in Middle Eastern geopolitics by normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states: the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. These agreements emphasized novel types of Arab-Israeli economic partnerships, security cooperation, and public diplomacy, representing a shift from earlier Israeli peace deals with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), which did not see significant growth in the states’ bilateral cooperation and coordination, particularly in non-security areas. And despite the unprecedented October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing Gaza and Lebanon wars, which intensified regional tensions and sparked widespread anti-Israel protests, the Abraham Accords have largely remained intact. This article argues that the core drivers behind the Accords—security, trade, and pragmatic diplomatic cooperation—continue to shape these partnerships, suggesting the potential for the Accords framework to endure. Further, the accords can serve as a model for future Arab-Israeli peace processes, including ongoing Saudi-Israeli normalization efforts, particularly alongside concerted efforts to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

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