Israeli-Arab lawmakers reject normalization deal with Emirate

The Knesset approved Oct. 15 the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with an overwhelming majority. In the final vote, 80 Knesset members voted in support of the agreement, 13 opposed it — all of them from the Arab Joint List — and 27 chose to absent themselves from the plenum. Now that the agreement has been approved by the Knesset, it will return to the Cabinet for its final approval. It will go into effect once the UAE ratifies it.

One thing that stuck out in the Knesset vote was the unanimous opposition to the agreement by all members of the Joint List who were present in the plenum. Chairman Ayman Odeh was absent due to his infection with the coronavirus, while Knesset member Jabar Asakla missed the vote because he was recovering from surgery. Nevertheless, the party’s public statements before the vote — linking their consent to progress on the Palestinian front — clarified well ahead that they were going to reject the deal. The irony is that their opposition happened just as Israeli-Arab soccer player Dia Saba made history by playing in the opening minutes of the game for Al-Nasr Dubai. Saba would never have been signed by the team were it not for the normalization agreement.

This raises an important question. Does the Joint List’s opposition to the normalization agreement with the Emirates really represent Arab attitudes toward it? The answer, I believe, is a resounding no.

Although the agreement put an end to Israeli plans to annex Palestinian territory and opened Al-Aqsa Mosque to all Muslims arriving via the UAE — something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoids mentioning — I already noted in a previous article that opinions in the Arab public are divided on the issue. Some Israeli Arabs oppose normalization without first resolving the Palestinian issue out of fear that it will perpetuate the occupation and stop the creation of a Palestinian state in the foreseeable future. But there is also a significant number of Israeli Arabs who support the agreement, believing that it will afford them an opportunity to build bridges and establish ties with the Arab world, something that has been denied them until now because of their Israeli citizenship and passports.

In a conversation with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Sondos Saleh of the Joint List explained her opposition to the agreement. She told Al-Monitor, “We are part of the Palestinian people, so we will not support any agreement that would harm the Palestinians, even if it is called a ‘peace agreement.’ I’m here to stay. The Palestinians are here to stay. They aren’t afraid, and they haven’t given up, even after expulsions, oppression and years of violent occupation and military rule. One day the occupation will be over, and peace will come.”

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