UPSC Prelims 2023 Q94: Israel-Arab Ties and Arab Peace Initiative
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I:
Israel has established diplomatic relations with some Arab States.
Statement-II:
The 'Arab Peace Initiative' mediated by Saudi Arabia was signed by Israel and Arab League.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
- Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
- Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct
Answer: (c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
Statement-wise explanation
- Statement-I: correct — Israel has full diplomatic relations with several Arab states. Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel on 26 March 1979, the first Arab state to do so. Jordan followed on 26 October 1994. Under the Abraham Accords of 2020, the UAE and Bahrain (signed in Washington on 15 September 2020) and then Morocco (December 2020) normalised ties with Israel. Sudan signed the general declaration but has not yet signed a bilateral normalisation agreement.
- Statement-II: incorrect — The Arab Peace Initiative was proposed by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. All 22 members of the Arab League adopted it at their Beirut summit on 28 March 2002. Saudi Arabia did not mediate it, and Israel never signed it. It was an Arab offer: all Arab states would recognise Israel and normalise relations if Israel withdrew from all Arab land occupied since 1967, accepted a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and agreed a just solution for Palestinian refugees. Because the statement is false, it cannot explain Statement-I. Israel's actual ties with Arab states came from separate deals: the Egypt and Jordan treaties and the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
How to eliminate
Statement-I is easy to settle from current affairs. The Abraham Accords (2020) with the UAE and Bahrain were widely reported, and the I2U2 group (India, Israel, UAE, US) held its first leaders' summit in July 2022. So Statement-I is true, and you can rule out the option that calls it incorrect. Statement-II makes two claims: Saudi Arabia 'mediated' the deal, and Israel 'signed' it with the Arab League. Ask yourself: if Israel and the whole Arab League had signed a peace deal, why would Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Syria still have no relations with Israel, and why would separate Abraham Accords be needed in 2020? That contradiction shows Statement-II is false. Remember the fact: the Arab Peace Initiative (Beirut, 2002) was a Saudi proposal adopted only by the Arab League, and Israel never accepted or signed it.
Know more
Israel and the Arab world: three routes to recognition
- Bilateral peace treaties. Egypt (1979) came after the Camp David framework. Egypt got back the Sinai, and Israeli settlements there were dismantled. Jordan's treaty (1994), signed at the Arava crossing, set up full diplomatic relations and embassies.
- The Arab Peace Initiative (2002). This was a collective Arab offer based on land for peace. Proposed by Saudi Arabia and adopted by the Arab League at Beirut, it promised recognition and normalisation from all Arab states in return for: Israel withdrawing to the pre-1967 lines, a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a just solution for refugees. The Arab League re-endorsed it at Riyadh in 2007. Israel never accepted it.
- The Abraham Accords (2020). These were US-mediated normalisation deals that did not require a Palestinian state first. This breaks the order the 2002 initiative set out.
| State | Basis of ties with Israel | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Peace treaty | 1979 |
| Jordan | Peace treaty | 1994 |
| UAE | Abraham Accords | 2020 |
| Bahrain | Abraham Accords | 2020 |
| Morocco | Joint declaration with US and Israel; normalisation | 2020 |
| Sudan | Signed the Accords' general declaration; no bilateral deal yet | 2020–21 |
| Saudi Arabia | No diplomatic relations; normalisation is still under negotiation | — |
Why it matters for India: India now works with Israel and the UAE together in the I2U2 group (food security, clean energy). Its first leaders' summit was held on 14 July 2022. This kind of grouping was only possible after the Abraham Accords. India also continues to support a two-state solution for Palestine.
In the news
Before the 2023 exam, Israel-Arab normalisation was in the news. The first I2U2 leaders' summit (India, Israel, UAE, US) took place in July 2022, and talks on possible Saudi-Israel normalisation were widely reported. Those talks raised the question of whether the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative's land-for-peace condition still applied.