There are as many as 300,000 Jews living in Ukraine today. Whatever happens in the weeks and months ahead, they know they don’t have to face the prospect of homelessness. And that’s because, thankfully, Israel is a reality.
Encounters between Israeli and other Arab government representatives, even from countries that do not yet have relations with Israel, are plentiful. Venues like COP27 provide opportunities for countries in the Middle East and around the world to transcend conflict and work together to shared challenges and advanced common interests. Israel sent the second-largest delegation of the 192 countries represented at the gathering, and the country’s expertise in climate, water, and agriculture technology was on full display.
If the EU is keen on carving out a diplomatic role in solving this conflict, it needs to end its ambiguity on UNRWA, whether by initiating reform or using its financial support for the agency as leverage to press the Palestinian leadership to return to bilateral negotiations with Israel.
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.