Is ‘Normalization’ with Israel the New Normal?

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday night claimed that only a tiny fraction of the Jewish state’s interactions with Arab nations were known to the public. The comments come amid a thaw in bilateral relations with Sudan, with Netanyahu highlighting that an Israeli plane for the first time ever had been granted access to Khartoum’s airspace. “We now have flights over Sudan direct to South America, and people can stop on the way in [Muslim-majority] Chad, which also resumed relations with us recently,” the prime minister stated. The process of “normalization” between Israel and the Sunni Muslim world has been discussed exhaustively in the world’s one and only Jewish state, which, historically, has repeatedly been targeted for annihilation by its Arab neighbors. Now, its population seemingly pines for acceptance by many of these countries. Israel is always abuzz with news of a potential breakthrough with the Arab world, whether they are reports about a potential summit in Cairo between Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, coming non-aggression pacts with Israel or the increasing frequency of visits by high-ranking Israeli officials to a slew of Middle Eastern capitals. If all that is insufficient, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Saturday answered numerous questions from a reporter with Israel’s Hebrew-language Ma’ariv newspaper. While Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud reiterated the kingdom’s position that “upgrading relations with Israel will occur only when a peace agreement is signed and is in accordance with Palestinian conditions,” the underlying message was lost on few. Riyadh’s new openness to the Jewish state was seemingly made stark last week when a delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations visited the kingdom and met with officials close to the crown prince.