Egypt was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel, in 1979, in return for an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula it occupied in 1967.
Jordan followed in 1994, a year after Israel and the PLO recognized each other via the Oslo Accords. Progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace enabled Israel to establish ties with other Arab states, but these were cut after the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000.
In 2020, following a gradual process, the Abraham Accords were signed, leading the UAE and Bahrain to normalize ties with Israel, with Sudan indicating it would follow suit when domestic conditions allow.
Also in 2020, Morocco re-established the official ties it had with Israel in the 1990s.
In 2022, Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt, and the United States established the Negev Forum to advance multilateral cooperation.
Israel for decades had unofficial and secret relations with most Arab states. Israel-Arab relations traditionally have a strong security dimension, but also increasingly include civilian, economic, and political cooperation.
In 2002, the Arab League adopted the API, which promised Israel normal relations with the entire Arab world in return for peace with the Palestinians.
The API did not generate progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Currently, Saudi Arabia is seeking to update the API and possibly have it become a key part of a package of incentives for peace.
Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the need to move forward with the Palestinians as a condition for progress with Arab countries. While he seeks to advance ties with Arab states to bypass the Palestinian issue, others in Israel and the international community seek to leverage normalization to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace.
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