The Talented Mr. Dahlan

The normalization deals that Israel recently signed with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were a diplomatic coup for the Trump administration. The Abraham Accords, as they were called, broke with decades of Gulf Arab opposition to any full normalization so long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remained unresolved. The Palestinians, with some reason, were livid, viewing it as a betrayal by their erstwhile brothers.

“When the dust settles, within months or a year, the Israeli-Arab conflict will be over,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said in September. But the Palestinian leadership, he added, was still stuck on past grievances: “They need to join the 21st century, they are on the wrong side of history at the moment.”

Not to be outdone, senior Gulf Arab officials also excoriated the Palestinian leadership for its continued obstinacy and ingratitude. “It is difficult to trust them, and to do something for the Palestinian cause with them around,” Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan declared openly.

The question was being raised more and more: Is there another, more pliant Palestinian leadership waiting in the wings? Influential figures in Israel, the United States, and Arab world seeking to cement their new Middle East order apparently think so, with one name in vogue again: Mohammed Dahlan.

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