US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the expansion of the Abraham Accords, saying he expects more countries including Saudi Arabia to join the agreement that normalized ties between Israel and several Arab nations. His remarks come a week into the fragile Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Trump said in an interview broadcast on Fox Business Network on Friday, “I hope to see Saudi Arabia go in, and I hope to see others go in. I think when Saudi Arabia goes in, everybody goes in.” US President Donald Trump lauded the Abraham Accords, calling the deal a “miracle” and “amazing,” while praising the United Arab Emirates for being among the first to sign it.
The accords, established during Trump’s first presidential term in 2020, formalized diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab nations the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Trump claimed the agreement would help achieve “long-lasting peace in the Middle East.”
However, the regional situation has drastically changed since the accords’ initial signing. Over the past two years, Israel has waged a devastating military campaign in Gaza, intensified its repression in the occupied West Bank, and launched airstrikes across six regional countries including Qatar, a key Gulf mediator. The attacks triggered a significant diplomatic crisis, which ultimately played a role in pressuring Israel into accepting a ceasefire in Gaza.
In response, an emergency summit of Arab and Muslim nations convened in Doha in September following the assault. The rare joint session, bringing together nearly 60 member states from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), strongly denounced Israel’s bombing of Qatar and expressed unwavering solidarity with the Gulf state. Leaders at the summit emphasized that the meeting represented a decisive moment for Arab and Muslim unity amid what they described as Israel’s unprecedented escalation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vision of a “Greater Israel” encompassing ambitions over Lebanese and Syrian territories has drawn widespread condemnation from Arab and Muslim capitals. Syrian President al-Sharaa, while cautiously welcoming Washington’s efforts to end Damascus’s international isolation, has shown little enthusiasm for joining the Abraham Accords. Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has urged Saudi Arabia in recent weeks to rebuild ties with the Lebanese group, aligned with Iran, and to form a unified stance against Israel.
Public opinion across the Arab world also appears largely opposed to normalization with Israel. A Washington Institute survey in August revealed that 81 percent of Saudis disapproved of establishing formal relations with Israel. Similar results were reported by a June poll conducted by Foreign Affairs and Arab Barometer, which found that support for normalization in Morocco one of the signatories of the Abraham Accords dropped from 31 percent in 2022 to just 13 percent following Israel’s offensive in Gaza in October 2023.
Saudi Arabia has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, which conditions recognition of Israel on addressing the Palestinian issue and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
