Wrong Audience, Wrong Ask: Why Trump’s Abraham Accords Gambit Falls on Deaf Ears

Article excerpt

President Trump pressed regional leaders last month to expand the Abraham Accords, the Arab-Israeli normalization agreements, framing them as a debt owed and a prerequisite for ending the Iran war. He reportedly encountered silence on the other end of the line. But Arab and Muslim states aren't quiet from indecision. They've already staked a clear position through the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which laid out conditions for normalization that differ sharply from Trump's approach. The disconnect reveals a fundamental mismatch between what Trump is asking for and what regional players are willing to offer.