Last month, an unremarkable item appeared in the news, which was, in a word, remarkable. IDF soldiers operating an Iron Dome battery in the UAE intercepted Iranian drones and missiles targeting civilians.
Take a moment to consider: The people of Israel (Jews, mostly) and the modern nation-state of Israel defended Muslim Arabs against aggressive attacks by Muslim Persians – for the first time in… forever.
Separate from all the public statements and rhetoric, promises, and signed agreements between Arabs/Muslims and Israel/Jews over the past two decades, this (un)remarkable news item demonstrates the sort of tangible results and benefits of real peace between Arabs and Jews in our time.
Failures in resolving conflicts
What has prevented peace in the Promised Land? Why have leaders for the past century failed in resolving the Arab-Israel conflict? Is it because they’re looking for love in all the wrong places?
Before October 7, and before the Abraham Accords, many used to think that peace would be found in “peace agreements,” in territorial arrangements, in formal governmental pacts serving national interests.
Instead, we saw how the Jordanian and Egyptian societies became more radicalized, not less, following the signing of peace treaties with Israel; more antisemitic, more hostile to Israel and Israelis, not less.
We saw how the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, as the Oslo Accords moved ahead, inculcated a culture of hatred among its people, teaching children to despise the “Zionist occupier” and promoting the doctrine of “Kill a Jew, go to heaven” (by Fatah and the PLO, not just Hamas), which culminated in the barbarity of October 7 and its support by vast majorities of these and other populations.
Yet we also saw how the leaders of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan taught their people to accept the return of the people of Israel to our ancestral homeland as the indigenous people of the region, taking our rightful place in the Levant.
These societies embraced Israel and the Jews – yes, also in pursuit of their national interest, but an interest that complements and supports the recognition of the legitimacy of Israel’s establishment (and of its defensive military operations). I felt this, palpably, when I visited these countries on business over the past few years – including and perhaps especially after October 7.
Most importantly, the Abraham Accords reflected a massive conceptual shift, based on traditional Islamic and Arab ideology and sources, regarding Israel/Jews and the West, as well as related to the goals and objectives of these societies. Rather than pursuing and fomenting the conquest and subjugation of the “infidel,” or parroting the antisemitic propaganda and hostile rhetoric toward Israel so prevalent in Arab and Muslim societies, the UAE and its partners focused on acceptance, tolerance, coexistence… and peace.
An effective approach to peace
In the minds of virtually every Israeli (and our supporters around the world), the atrocities of October 7 created the imperative to cease looking for love among those who hate, to stand strong in the face of that hatred, and to insist on a different approach to bringing peace to our region – one based on acceptance and on shared values and goals, instead of on temporary interests and signed agreements.
The Abraham Accords demonstrated the possibilities inherent in such an approach and their validity from an Arab and Muslim perspective. The Board of Peace, focused now on reconstructing Gaza, has a similar approach to real peace: based on historical reality and law, not myths and propaganda; mutual respect, not mere concessions; on morality, not maps.
This combination – of moral courage twinned with hope and optimism – is what drives Israel’s insistence that Hamas must never be allowed to rule Gaza again, and that Iran must cease its support for jihadi Islamist terror and its nuclear and missile programs.
We can, and must, imagine an Arab and Muslim leadership built on humility rather than defiance; education that promotes tolerance and peace; religious sermons that elevate compassion over rage; media that recognizes words as sparks capable of igniting flames or as water capable of cooling passions; economic partnerships that bind destinies rather than deepen dependencies; environmental collaborations that unite communities because climate ignores borders; and more practical, pragmatic transformative steps.
These are not dreams. They are designs – blueprints awaiting courageous builders. And all of us – Arab and Israeli, Muslim and Jew (and Christians and the entire free world) – can and must support such moderate, pragmatic, courageous Muslim and Arab leaders.
In this blueprint, five elements form an interlocking framework for human and national flourishing: humility opens the mind, acceptance opens the heart, gratitude nurtures resilience, forgiveness frees the spirit, and purpose directs energy toward creation, healing, and coexistence. Applied across the divides of the Arab-Israeli conflict, they offer a moral, psychological, and practical road map – moving from hatred to humanity.
The writer is the author of the just-released Finding Peace in the Promised Land, being launched July 19 at the Begin Center in Jerusalem, as well as of My Israel Trail.
A former senior adviser to Natan Sharansky in Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office, he is a well-known speaker, writer, business executive, and democracy activist, and the co-founder of US nonprofit Gigawatt Impact, bringing renewable energy to Africa. He can be reached at aryeh.green@gmail.com.