Topics Covered: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Israel- UAE agreement:
Context:
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have announced an agreement that will lead to a full normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two states, a move that reshapes the order of West Asia politics from the Palestinian issue to Iran.
- The agreement will be known as the Abraham Accords.
Overview of the agreement:
- Trilateral agreement: The agreement was the product of lengthy discussions between Israel, the UAE and the US that accelerated recently.
- Under the accord, Israel has agreed to suspend annexing areas of the occupied West Bank as it had been planning to do.
- It also firms up opposition to regional power Iran, which the UAE, Israel and the US view as the main threat in the region.
Background:
Israel had signed peace agreements with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. But the UAE, along with most other Arab nations, did not recognise Israel and had no formal diplomatic or economic relations with it until now.
Where is West Bank?
It is a landlocked territory near the Mediterranean coast of Western Asia, bordered by Jordan to the east and by the Green Line separating it and Israel on the south, west and north.
The West Bank also contains a significant section of the western Dead Sea shore.
What is the dispute settlements here? Who lives there?
- The West Bank was captured by Jordan after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
- Israel snatched it back during the Six Day War of 1967, and has occupied it ever since. During this war, the country defeated the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.
- It has built some 130 formal settlements in the West Bank, and a similar number of smaller, informal settlements have mushroomed over the last 20-25 years.
- Over 4 lakh Israeli settlers — many of them religious Zionistswho claim a Biblical birthright over this land — now live here, along with some 26 lakh Palestinians.
- The territory is still a point of contention due to a large number of Palestinians who live there and hope to see the land become a part of their future state.
- When Israel took control of the land in 1967 it allowed Jewish people to move in, but Palestinians consider the West Bank illegally occupied Palestinian land.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Six- day war- countries involved, reasons and the outcome.
- Where is Gaza Strip?
- What’s there in the Middle East peace plan?
- Where is Jerusalem?
- Who are Palestinians and what are their demands?
- Countries surrounding Israel.
Mains Link:
Does India support the establishment of a sovereign independent state of Palestine? Discuss.
Sources: the Hindu.
