The UAE’s threats over Judea and Samaria reveal the hollowness of “peace” built on extortion. Prime Minister Netanyahu must seize the historic moment to assert sovereignty.
The Abraham Accords were rightly celebrated as a diplomatic breakthrough. After decades of stalemate, Arab states like the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalize ties with Israel without demanding endless concessions to the Palestinians. For once, peace seemed possible on the basis of mutual recognition rather than capitulation.
But the recent warning from the UAE — that it may exit the accords if Israel declares sovereignty over Judea and Samaria — exposes how fragile that promise really was. If normalization depends on Israel keeping its heartland off-limits, then this is not peace at all. It is conditional acceptance, contingent on Israel remaining strategically vulnerable and politically malleable.
Israel has seen this movie before. Each time it has signed peace agreements that required concessions, it has paid dearly without securing genuine partnership.
When Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt under the Camp David Accords, it surrendered not only strategic depth and natural resources but also control over a buffer zone that has since been exploited to arm Israel’s enemies. In the decades since, Egypt has largely closed its eyes while Hamas dug tunnels, smuggled weapons, and built up an arsenal through Sinai contraband. That arsenal ultimately enabled the atrocities of October 7 and the devastating war that has followed. A truly peaceful neighbor would have stopped such activity. Egypt did not.
The 1994 treaty with Jordan gave Israel a quieter border, but not true cooperation. Amman routinely fans anti-Israel sentiment, works against Israel’s regional interests, and yet is endlessly celebrated in Washington as a “moderate” player.
And then there was Oslo. Sold as a pathway to reconciliation, it legitimized the Palestinian Authority, emboldened Hamas, and unleashed a wave of terror attacks that claimed the lives of thousands of Israelis. Instead of peace, Israel got suicide bombings, rockets, and a corrupt entity entrenched in Ramallah that still incites hatred and denies Israel’s very right to exist.
Meanwhile, not one of Israel’s supposed “peace partners” has taken in a single Gazan refugee during the current war. Not Egypt, not Jordan, not the UAE. They posture on the world stage as defenders of Palestinian rights, but when it comes to offering actual sanctuary, they slam their doors shut. They demand that Israel absorb the humanitarian fallout of Hamas’s terror while they sit back, free of consequence. The hypocrisy is staggering: Arab states that endlessly sermonize about Palestinian suffering refuse to take even the smallest responsibility for alleviating it.
It is also worth recalling why the UAE and others signed onto the Abraham Accords in the first place. Their decision was not driven by newfound affection for Israel’s democratic values or recognition of Jewish historic rights. It was born of fear. Facing the growing menace of Iran, these Gulf states saw in Israel a partner with unparalleled intelligence capabilities, cyber expertise, and military technology.
But now, with Iran’s networks badly damaged by years of Israeli operations, and with Hamas weakened by Israel’s ongoing campaign, it seems the UAE feels freer to turn on Israel. The message is clear: when the heat is off, old habits return. These regimes still toe the Arab League line, and their supposed “peace” is always conditional, always fragile.
And let us be frank: Israel bore the brunt of the confrontation with Iran. It took the physical blows, absorbed the economic costs, and shouldered the risks. The UAE and others enjoyed the security umbrella without paying the price. Israel lived — and thrived — long before the Abraham Accords, and it will continue to survive, and even prosper, should the UAE walk away. A nation that has faced wars, boycotts, and terror for 75 years need not tremble at the thought of conditional partners abandoning ship.
What makes this pattern worse is how it has consistently distorted Israel’s most vital alliance: its relationship with the United States.
Every time Israel signs one of these deals, authoritarian regimes that never share its democratic values are rewarded with billions in American aid, weapons, and diplomatic prestige. Egypt, Jordan, and even the Palestinian Authority have all reaped political legitimacy and financial windfalls by simply showing up at the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Israel’s unique bond with Washington — built on shared ideals and mutual trust — is diluted as U.S. administrations rush to treat bad actors as “peace partners.”
The result is a perverse inversion: Israel concedes land and security, while its adversaries are elevated in the eyes of the world and welcomed in the White House as “reasonable” players. The truth is precisely the opposite. Not one of these regimes has lifted a finger to directly strengthen Israel’s security.
The hard truth is that Palestine never existed — which is precisely why even the Palestinians themselves have consistently rejected an independent state. Their leaders have walked away from every offer, not because the map was wrong, but because their true goal has always been Israel’s elimination.
It is long past time to shelve this dangerous fantasy. Waiting endlessly for the Palestinians to accept a state of their own is not a peace process, but a process of paralysis. It locks Israel into permanent uncertainty, fuels violence, and destabilizes the entire region.
By declaring sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, Israel would restore a historic right, end the illusion that Palestinian rejectionism can be appeased, and stabilize the foundations of peace with those Arab states who are genuinely willing to accept reality. The only path to long-term peace is not through less Israel, but through more Israel — stronger, larger, and unapologetically sovereign.
A Rare Window of Opportunity
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a rare alignment. Israel is confronting Hamas as a terror cult, much of the world is rushing to crown a Palestinian “state,” yet Israel still has a true ally in the White House. For the first time, the U.S. has revoked PA visas to attend the upcoming UN General Assembly — an acknowledgment that this corrupt, terror-glorifying entity is unworthy of the world stage.
But Netanyahu cannot outsource Israel’s future to Washington. American support is valuable, but Israel must lead. The Prime Minister must act decisively, assert Israel’s rights, and seize control of the narrative. Depending on U.S. intervention or waiting for Palestinian compliance is a recipe for paralysis.
Netanyahu vowed that October 7 would change the region. Crushing Hamas and striking at terror networks was a start — but it is not enough. If, in the vacuum of war, even a former ISIS leader can rise in Syria, then Israel has no excuse for hesitating to take back its own land. Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria is the only move that can truly alter the region’s trajectory. Delay ensures nothing changes.
And Israel owes this not only to its own people, but to the West as well. By failing to prevent October 7, Israel unleashed a global storm of antisemitism cloaked in the violent cry of “Free Palestine.” That poisonous slogan has marched through Western streets, poisoned campuses, and legitimized terror. By asserting sovereignty, Israel can finally close this vile chapter, strip the Palestinian narrative of relevance, and consign the fantasy of “Palestine” to the dustbin of history.
Israel must do this for its loyal citizens, who deserve security and dignity, and for its allies, who deserve clarity. Declaring sovereignty would correct a historic wrong and send a message no critic can ignore: Israel — and Israel alone — decides its fate. Not the Arab League. Not the UN. Not any foreign government.
The UAE and other Arab states that seek genuine partnership should want a bigger, safer Israel, not a smaller one encircled by corruption and terror. A weakened Israel breeds chaos; a sovereign Israel builds stability.
Real peace cannot rest on threats, ultimatums, or conditional tolerance. It must be built on mutual respect and recognition that Israel, as a democracy and the ancestral home of the Jewish people, has the right to chart its own destiny.
Netanyahu can either allow Israel’s future to be held hostage by extortion or seize this historic window to assert sovereignty. The world may criticize. The Arab League may rage. Even the Abraham Accords may bend under pressure, and the UN will likely throw a tantrum. But history will remember one thing above all: whether Israel stood firm as master of its own destiny — or allowed yet another just opportunity to slip away to preserve the illusion of a two-state solution.
Jacques R. Rothschild was born in Belgium and served as a unit commander in the IDF paratroopers. He graduated in Mathematics, Statistics, and International Affairs from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and currently lives with his family in New York City, where he works as an investment banker. He also writes and speaks publicly about current affairs and causes for which he cares deeply.
