Are Arab-Muslims really warming to Israel?

Submitted by Raul Marks, Jan 1, 2019 at 17:00

It is true that Bibi Netanyahu likes to speak of the progress he is making on the diplomatic front with nations across the world. Specifically Bibi has been focussing on traditionally hostile states in Africa and Latin America. I would say so far, the success has been mixed if we look at it from a gains and losses perspectives:

Gains
US, Honduras move embassies to Jerusalem
Increased diplomatic activity with Chad and Oman
Increasingly public coordination with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Nations
Majority of UN GA votes to condemn Hamas

Losses
Paraguay moves embassy back to Tel Aviv
Decreased diplomacy with Turkey
Russia recognizes only West Jerusalem as Israeli capital, implying East Jerusalem belongs to Palestinians
Majority of UN GA condemns US Embassy move

From a qualitative standpoint, I can't see how the gains outweigh the losses. Brazil, under Bolsonaro is expected to move the embassy soon, but Bolsonaro didn't mention anything publically despite discussing the issues with Bibi during his inauguration celebrations.

When it comes specifically to the Arab and Muslim states, the Arab League seems to be threatening Brazil about the embassy move. So the question is, can the Arab states be trusted given that a) they continue to vote against Israel at the UN and b) the Arab League's position on Jerusalem hasn't become any more favorable towards Israel? One might argue that the Arab League is only doing "a" at the UN in order to placate their citizens, but then why is the Arab League following suit on Jerusalem issues? How much weight does Chad or Oman carry within the Arab-Muslim world?

Apart from that, large Muslim states like Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Pakistan, and Bangladesh remain vehemtly pro Palestinian. Those 6 states account for 50% or more of the gobal Muslim population, and significant chunk of the Muslim world's GDP and therefore are significantly important vis a vis the Sunni Gulf states.

On top of all this, we still don't know what the Trump Peace plan will eventually contain.

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