How the wheels turn. Instead of threats that serve Israeli aggression, the leaders of the Arab world now embrace their Israeli counterparts. Some people have been tempted to think that the inclusive attitude to Israel adopted by the Arab world would soften the hearts of policymakers here and push them toward reconciliation with the Palestinians, but Israel in fact understood things in a completely different way – that it has received a carte blanche to step up oppression of the Palestinians.

That’s what happened after the peace agreement with Egypt, and now that’s what’s happening in the wake of the Abraham Accords.