Reconciliation and the Abraham Accords

Adapted from the writing of By David Parsons, ICEJ Senior Spokesman January 2023

The following are a summary of points:
• The Oslo Peace Process was signed in 1993. It proved to be a false promise of peace and imposed from abroad.
• The Abraham Accords began many years ago with quiet trade ties Jerusalem established with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
• These ties were further nurtured by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington in 2015 when he stood before Congress to voice his opposition to the pending Iranian nuclear deal. Many Arab Gulf rulers felt he was speaking on their behalf as well.
• The Accords were sealed with the help of US President Donald Trump in 2020.

The article continues:
The Abraham Accords was a historic move towards reconciliation and peace between Israel and Arab neighbours.

It is true that the Abraham Accords are being driven on both sides by strong economic interests and by the common threat posed by Iran but there are reasons to be cautious with any man-made deals. However, I also believe there is something truly genuine and positive at work in the hearts and mindsets of those embracing this normalization process.

Even the name of the Abraham Accords is a tacit acknowledgement that the Jewish and Arab peoples of this region have a common ancestry in the Patriarch Abraham. The Accords carry a message to the Jewish people that they are indigenous to this region and have come home to help build its future. This is music to the ears of so many Israelis today. It also is the realization of the quest of Chaim Weizmann, the successor to Theodor Herzl as leader of the early Zionist movement, who sought to forge an agreement with the Hashemite Arab rulers of his day along these very same lines.

As a result, Israelis are flocking to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to shop and dine, and they are being very warmly welcomed. Israeli tourism to Morocco is also sharply on the rise, and many Israelis were even flying the Moroccan flag in support of their soccer team’s surprising run in the 2022 World Cup. This is the sort of people-to-people contact and peace that many Israelis longed for over past decades with Egypt, and indeed even Jerusalem’s relations with Cairo are warming in the wake of the Abraham Accords.

The Christian Connection
I believe we are in a season when Israel’s many Christian friends can trust the genuine spirit of reconciliation inherent in the Abraham Accords. It was actually Evangelical leaders who helped birth the Accords with their visits to meet with regional Arab rulers, helping them to connect more closely to the Trump administration and to the thought of normalization with Israel. So, we should be praying and working to reconcile Jews and Israel with the Arabs and their respective nations. And we should be guarding against any effort by the US State Department or European Union to steer the Abraham Accords back towards the flawed two-state solution.

A Spiritual Dimension
There also is a remarkable spiritual dynamic at work today in the growing fellowship between Jewish and Arab believers in Yeshua. They are worshipping and praying together as never before in history. An ICEJ leadership delegation just had a wonderful encounter in Cyprus with some 70 Arab Christian leaders from around the region, and this again demonstrated to us that God is at work to reconcile all things in Messiah.

I believe this is a day for Christians who love and support Israel to be reconcilers, and not just partisans for one side of this conflict. We must continue to stand with Israel and defend her from her sworn enemies. But we also should be looking for opportunities to reconcile Jews and Arabs whenever possible.

Genesis 33:4 records the incredible moment of reconciliation between Jacob and Esau. Jacob was still afraid of his brother. He wrestled all night with an angelic being (Hosea 12:4). He divided his camp into thirds, with Rachel and Benjamin protected in the rear. And then Jacob saw Esau and his 400 men coming in the distance, and he anxiously bowed seven times to the ground. Yet then we read:

“But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” (Genesis 33:4)

This is an incredible prophetic picture of what the LORD can and wants to do between brothers once separated by jealousy and hate. May we see it in our day, and may we be instruments of reconciliation to help make it happen, just as God reconciled us to Himself through the amazing gift of Jesus.

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)