Articles by Jason Isaacson

President Joe Biden is within arm’s reach of fulfilling his 2021 public pledge to help Israel join the United States Visa Waiver Program, an achievement American friends of the Jewish state are poised to celebrate.

A year before UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed the historic Abraham Accords on the White House lawn, his government made a breathtaking announcement: In the spirit of the “Year of Tolerance” – declared by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the country’s leader, in conjunction with the joint visit to the UAE by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, in February 2019 – Abu Dhabi would undertake construction of a world-class complex dedicated to the pursuit of inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, with majestic houses of worship for each of the three Abrahamic faiths. A little more than three years later, that revolutionary project is completed and will open its doors to the public. Three houses of worship, serving faiths with a common ancestry, will welcome adherents to express their devotion according to their separate hallowed traditions – as well as respectful observers, of whatever spiritual orientation – on a common campus signifying and celebrating the unity of humanity.

After decades of disconnection, denial, and distrust, two years of normalized and remarkably warm relations between Israel and two Arab Gulf states have shown how ready the Middle East was — and is — for fundamental change.

AJC Abu Dhabi: The Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding (SLCAJU), the organization’s first office in an Arab or majority-Muslim state, will endeavor to serve as a committed, independent, nongovernmental bridge between Arabs and Jews, Emiratis and Israelis, and the United States and the Gulf. Headed by retired US Ambassador Marc Sievers, the Center is building on more than 25 years of AJC engagement with the UAE government. Aside from experience with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Culture and Youth, and the Ministry of Tolerance, as well as with academic institutions, think tanks, interfaith organs, the business sector and the country’s growing Jewish community, the office will showcase the benefits and the potential for broader peace.

Each day brings news of another high-level exchange, another tangible benefit of peace, between Israel and countries with which it normalized ties just one year ago. The pace and potential impact of these developments are breathtaking. Twenty-five years ago, and every year since, AJC delegations meeting with high government officials in Arab capitals were always warmly received, but were told to expect normal relations with Israel only after the achievement of Palestinian statehood. That is, until two years ago. That’s when UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan told us his country was ready for full peace with the Jewish state.

The announcement on Aug. 13, 2020 that the United Arab Emirates and Israel had agreed to move toward full diplomatic relations surprised much of the world. What culminated last summer had deep roots. My American Jewish Committee colleagues and I, traveling regularly to Gulf capitals since 1994, observed signs of fresh thinking in the region early on—and did our part to encourage it.

Jason Isaacson, American Jewish Committee (AJC) Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer, called for all UN member states to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. Isaacson addressed the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) conference on “Exploring Holistic Approaches to Combating Antisemitism.”

As Middle East and North African leaders increasingly question old orthodoxies and recognize the benefits of new alignments—with normalization agreements offering advantages not only for Israel and Arab states, but also creating opportunities to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace—Washington, too, must look at this evolving region with fresh eyes. To advance its objectives, the new administration should take advantage of all the tools at its disposal—including those left to it by its predecessor.

Rather than in bloodshed and disgrace, the presidency of Donald J. Trump could have ended on a high note.

After years of sowing uncertainty about America’s commitment to global leadership, the Trump administration in its final months proved a powerful force for Middle East peace and cooperation, playing a key role in tripling the number of Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel – and advancing strategic cooperation among eastern Mediterranean democracies.

What history will surely highlight, however, is not the foreign policy achievements as President Trump neared the end of his term, but the grave dangers he posed to American democracy and the rule of law by his refusal to accept that end – culminating in the violence he provoked at the U.S. Capitol.

The Arab country with the oldest and largest Jewish community – as well as the largest Jewish diaspora – has opted for political and economic ties with the Jewish state, itself home to some 1 million Jews of Moroccan descent.

Indian friends of America take heart: President-elect Joe Biden is poised to continue the upward trajectory of relations between the world’s most populous democracy and the world’s oldest one.

Following four years of political disruption and redefinition of U.S. policies at home and abroad, and four days of uncertainty, it’s official: former Vice President Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United States and Senator Kamala Harris will become the first woman to serve as Vice President — as well as the first person of color.

The 2020 election was unprecedented in many ways. Voter turnout reached its highest rate in more than a century, every campaign fundraising and spending record was shattered, and a record-breaking number of female candidates ran for federal office.

We left Manama in 1995, hopeful but uncertain, committed to returning annually. In time, the young Bahraini diplomat was promoted, and promoted again. In 2005, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa appointed the then-45-year-old diplomat, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs. From that moment, through the nearly 15 years he served as Bahrain’s chief diplomat until becoming the king’s diplomatic advisor early this year, he never lost his interest in, nor his commitment to, expanding the circle of Arab-Israeli peace.

It was by no means our first meeting. AJC has been traveling regularly to the Gulf for more than 25 years, and had first come to know this particular official when he held a different portfolio 20 years earlier. We had always discussed the possibility of communicating more directly and openly with Israel, and of exploring areas of potential cooperation.

If the new Israeli government, despite nearly universal objections from governments near and far and the warnings of many of Israel’s supporters in the Diaspora, follows the path promised by Prime Minister Netanyahu and in the coming weeks applies Israeli sovereignty unilaterally to a portion of the West Bank, AJC will do what it has always done: explain Israel to the wider world.

If the MENA region – and the world – needed a reminder of humanity’s interconnectedness, interdependence and shared vulnerabilities, COVID-19 is it.

US President Donald Trump’s state visit to India, a little more than eight months before he faces the voters in his bid for a second term, is significant not only for what it may yield in enhancing the strategic relationship between sister democracies but for what it says about the rising stature of India and Indian Americans on the US political landscape.

This time, the experts got it right.  As predicted, Democrats took over the House of Representatives and Republicans retained control and strengthened their majority in the Senate.