In his speech before the U.S. Congress, Benjamin Netanyahu referred multiple times to what he called “our Arab friends.” He mentioned this in the context of presenting his vision for the “day after the war.” This was the only indication in his otherwise theatrical speech of what could be considered “policy.” After all, his Arab friends were included in his vision for the post-war era. 

“The Abrahamic Era”

Netanyahu spoke about the need to revive the “Abrahamic Era.” 

Do you remember it?

It’s the era from which “October 7” was born—the free peace, emanating from the imagination of the right-wing, religious, Israeli bloc and the ambitions of Gulf Emirati sheikhs to invest at the expense of Palestinians and their rights. 

Netanyahu capped his speech with a clear reference to what this peace means to him. In the context of his gratitude to Donald Trump, he reminded his applauding audience that Trump was the first to recognize Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel. At this moment, he dropped his biggest bombshell in Congress: Jerusalem is the indivisible capital of the State of Israel. 

He said this verbatim. Therefore, there is no place for all the talk about the two-state solution, as mentioned during the war by Saudi Arabia, France, the United States, and the European Union. Netanyahu dismissed the two-state solution in his speech before the U.S. Congress, not the Israeli Knesset.

Netanyahu used the Abraham Accords to undermine the two-state solution, presenting them as a model for what he desires and aspires for the Middle East post-war. He invoked the Abraham Accords at a time of exceptional political ascendancy for Donald Trump, the patron of those agreements, who fueled the hopes of the UAE sheikhs for the end of the Democratic Party’s era in America.

In his speech, Netanyahu painted a picture of what he wants for Gaza after the war: absolute security control for Israel and a “civil” administration for the Palestinians, without specifying the identity of said administration. It’s the precise recipe for another “October 7.” More than 5 million Palestinians distributed between the West Bank and Gaza will not be included in the “Abrahamic Era” equation. Hamas will applaud this possibility, and as for Iran, this era will provide an escape from the constraints caused by Trump’s potential return to power. On one hand, Tehran will face Trump’s recklessness, but on the other, it will gain a fertile environment for its ideological rhetoric.

Netanyahu’s speech provided answers to all the questions surrounding the two-state solution. He sealed the debate on the two-state solution, with the majority of the U.S. Congress members applauding him. 

No Palestinian state, no Palestinian partners. Therefore, war is the only horizon. The myth of eradicating Hamas was tested over nine months, and the “Abrahamic Era” will further inflame the West Bank more clearly than today. The region will face a scene divided between two religious right-wings, leaving no place for the Palestinian Liberation Organization or for Jordan, which has suffered through both during the first Abrahamic era.

War is the only horizon drawn by the speech—war in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, with a potential rupture in relations with Amman, considered the “alternative Palestinian homeland” by the Israeli right, and Egypt likely to face more transfer proposals, despite any financial temptations offered in light of the Gulf sheikhs’ integration into the “Abrahamic Era.”

Israel should fear for itself after Netanyahu’s speech before Congress. October 7 is not just about being a security failure; rather, it is about where the sentiments behind it were born and from what political womb they emerged. The answer, if limited to Hamas and Iran, remains incomplete without acknowledging that the Abraham Accords created a feeling among Palestinians that the world had bypassed their plight, and they were no longer a prerequisite for peace between Arabs and Israel.

Understanding this equation makes one tremble at the thought that some believe they can bypass the rights of five million people, and more in the nearby diaspora. This is what the Abraham Accords did, and what Netanyahu presented before Congress this past Wednesday. 

The first to learn this lesson should be Israel. As for the Abrahamic Arabs, we must wait in despair to see if the war on Gaza has changed anything in the US’s forwardness towards Netanyahu.

Most importantly, one should invest in the likelihood that Donald Trump does not win, but Netanyahu did the opposite in his speech. He spoke as if his friend were already in the White House, which is understandable since Trump’s defeat would mean the end of Netanyahu’s political future. This explains why the Israeli Prime Minister unreservedly bets on Trump, despite the equal chances of his loss and victory. In either case, Israel will not lose American support, but Netanyahu will lose his chances of survival if Trump loses.

Israel’s dilemma surpasses ours, and the Abraham Accords will not bring peace, but will usher more wars.

The scene in Congress yesterday, as our friend Michael Young pointed out, reminds us of the one scene in the Syrian parliament where members stand applauding Bashar al-Assad when he says his country is the greatest democracy in the world. 

Congress members applauded Netanyahu when he said his army did not kill a single civilian in Rafah!!!