President Donald Trump predicted in recent days that additional countries would soon join the Abraham Accords, renewing debate over whether Israel is becoming increasingly isolated or continuing to expand its most important strategic relationships."The Abraham Accords have been, I think, a tremendous success," Trump said during a Tuesday Oval Office meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun."I think you’re going to see a lot of countries joining pretty soon."Trump's prediction underscores a central debate about Israel's global position: Public support for the country has fallen sharply in the United States and across much of the world, yet Israel continues to build or preserve diplomatic, military, energy and technology relationships with foreign governments.TRUMP CALLS ON ARAB NATIONS TO SIGN ABRAHAM ACCORDSPresident Donald Trump predicted in recent days that additional countries would soon join the Abraham Accords. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)The Abraham Accords, brokered by the Trump administration in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sunday.
Trump has made expanding the agreements a central goal of his Middle East strategy. The dispute depends partly on how isolation is measured.Critics point to worsening public opinion, pressure at international institutions and growing opposition among Democrats and younger voters.
Israeli officials and conservative foreign-policy experts argue that government-to-government cooperation remains strong and, in some regions, is expanding.Trump reinforced that strategy Thursday by saying a U.S.civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia would depend on the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords.
The statement showed the administration attempting to use one of Washington’s most valuable offers to Riyadh to secure normalization with Israel, but it did not demonstrate that Saudi Arabia had agreed to do so.Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon rejected the...