Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 11/05/21

The big deal. On September 15, 2020, President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives from the nations of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates gathered on the South Lawn of the White House to sign the groundbreaking Middle East peace agreements known as the Abraham Accords. Guided largely by the Trump Administration, the agreements paved the way for the normalization of diplomatic and peaceful relations between Israel and a good portion of its Muslim Middle Eastern neighbors. The leftstream media largely yawned and/or disparaged its significance.

Tonight (11/5) at 8:00 PM (ET), the Christian broadcaster TBN debuts a five-part aptly-titled Abraham Accords docuseries hosted by former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman that goes behind the scenes of what happened that day and explores its historic impact. Friedman helped lead the implementation of the Trump Administration approach to the Middle East, an approach that included clear and steadfast support for Israel.

JWK: How was the Trump Administration’s approach, which you were a part of, different than what had been transpiring before?

DF: It was different in two related respects. The first of which was how we treated Israel. We didn’t treat Israel as being a co-equal player in the region with the Palestinians. We recognized that Israel was a critical ally to the United States. It was essential to our national security. We were essential to their national security. We had a relationship that went back many, many years and was subject to deep popular support within the United States. On practical terms, economic terms and even theological terms, it was a deeply important ally of the United States – perhaps the most important ally we have in the world.

So, we stopped treating Israel as if they were on par with the Palestinians. It doesn’t mean that we wished any harm to the Palestinians but we recognized Israel as the ally that it was and we began to treat it that way. We did that in a number of ways that are very well known – whether it was moving our embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing their sovereignty over the Golan Heights or getting out of the Iran deal. I mean lots of important ways.

People thought if you do that you’re gonna have an explosion of violence. We actually thought we’d have an explosion of peace because by doing that – by signaling that – what we signaled to Arab nations of good faith is that, just like we can be a good friend to Israel, we can be a good friend to you as well. We’re willing to keep our promises. We’re willing to stand with our allies. We’re willing to go through times that can be challenging for both nations and still come out on the other end being as close and strong with each other as ever. I think we demonstrated with our relationship with Israel how the United States can treat and ally, should treat an ally and how we can be a good, reliable friend. I think that was significant.

The other thing was we really embraced the moderate Arab world. The first trip the President took after he came into office was a trip to Saudi Arabia. He met with 52 Muslim nations. On the one hand, he stretched out his hand and said “Look, we’re willing to be a friend. We’re willing to work with you. We’re not going to tell you how to run your own country but we’re gonna tell you what we think is important for our collective benefit.”

He also said something which hadn’t been said in the past which is “Look, guys, radical Islamic extremism is coming from this part of the world and don’t ask us to stop it when it comes to our shores. You gotta stop it here. We’re willing to be partners with you on this but we have (to) act collectively (in) the fight against extremism.” No president has ever spoken to the Muslim world, or the Arab world, that way and it resonated with them. Again, it showed that the United States was gonna embark upon a new path of really standing with its friends (and) working with its friends to combat common problems. It was a major change from the past.

JWK: Is it fair to say that the US media – and perhaps the international media – didn’t take President Trump and his team, which included people like you and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, very seriously and we’re maybe even antagonistic toward your efforts?

DF: I think that would be fair to say, yeah. It would be probably even fairer to say that we were inappropriately castigated. I don’t think we were given much of a chance but, at the end of the day, that just caused us to work harder and to kind of focus more on the goals we were trying to achieve.

There was an orthodoxy both in the diplomatic world and in the media that covers that diplomatic world. Their view was these guy don’t come from our world. They don’t come from the world of diplomacy. They don’t speak our language. They challenge things that we all accept as gospel and, therefore, we don’t like them.

Our approach was almost none of these things had worked in the past. I mean you guys have been climbing up the same tree time and time again. You haven’t been able to achieve anything. You’ve got no results to show for your efforts. So, we’re sure you’re very smart and intelligent. We know you work very hard on these problems but, with all due respect, you don’t have any results from your efforts. We were elected to try something new and that was certainly our approach but, no, we weren’t given much chance within the establishment.

JWK: When compared with Israel’s peace treaties with Jordan in 1994 and with Egypt in 1978, when the Abraham Accords were signed last year the event didn’t receive the sort of media attention that you would expect.

DF: No, there wasn’t. That is what it is. We were there on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15th when the President, the Prime Minister of Israel and the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain and the Emirates signed those agreements. I’m not sure that it got the coverage it deserved but, as someone who was sitting there in the front row, I was just as proud of it as I could have been. Not only was it a great event then but…it has great stamina and resilience. These relationships (are) getting stronger and stronger and making the world a safer place.

JWK: What exactly did they agree to do that we are hoping will carry forth?

DF: The Abraham Accords themselves are only about a page and a half. The real operative agreements are to end all hostilities – I mean there weren’t any military hostilities but to end all political hostilities – to establish relationships on all appropriate fronts whether security cooperation, trade, commerce, tourism or education, to work together on all those fronts and to open reciprocal embassies – so that, for example, there’s an Emirate embassy in Israel and Israeli embassy to the Emirates in Abu Dhabi, the same is true in the other countries = and to really fully normalize the relations so that there are no impediments to joint efforts and joint cooperation. In fact, there are incentives and encouragements to those relationships.

JWK: Now that the Biden Administration is in charge in the US, are you confident that they are going to build on what you did?

DF: I sure hope so. It got off to a rocky start. The Biden Administration wasn’t even willing to use the phrase the Abraham Accords which is a shame because it’s a very powerful brand. I think they’re over that now. I think they recognize that it was really an unbridled success and they should be jumping all over it.

At the end of the day, the way these agreements got done was Israel with the bilateral agreements with the particular countries but, in every case, there was the United States standing behind both countries, giving them cover, giving them encouragement, giving them security and standing for all that they had achieved…and really bringing both countries inside a circle of trust.

Now, you know, things like running out of Afghanistan (while) leaving behind Americans, allies and property, those types of activities where America looks weak and, if you will, inept, those signals don’t provide the type of encouragement for more countries to get involved or for the existing countries to continue to advance. America has to be strong and stand with its allies, to communicate that strength and not to appear as if it’s jettisoning its relationships or abandoning relationships or even abandoning people.

So, the Biden Administration could get a little stronger certainly. That would certainly give a lot of fuel to growing the Abraham Accords. It’s certainly not optimal right now.

JWK: Current Secretary of State Tony Blinken recently promised that the Biden Administration will “continue to build on the successful efforts of the last administration to keep normalization marching forward.” Does that give you some hope?

DF: Yeah, sure. I mean I take him at his word but, you know, I’m speaking to you now from Israel. I spend a lot of time here. I was pretty fluent in the Middle East before I got here as an ambassador and I’ve only become more so over the past four years. All I can tell you is that in this part of the world words are an extremely cheap currency. What really matters is our actions. What people will be looking to the United States for is whether – not by words but by actions – the United States is willing to stand with its allies and really actively promote and expand in scale the Abraham Accords. That takes more than just a speech.

JWK: The Democrats just took a hit in some off-year elections. I guess the primary issues were the economy and education but do you think the voters were also delivering a repudiation of the Biden Administration’s actions in Afghanistan and its foreign policy in general – and, if so, do you think that repudiation might stiffen the Administration’s spine against foreign adversaries going forward?

DF: I hope so. Watching it from a distance, I agree with you that it seems like the results were domestically driven. At the same time, I think, in particular, the visuals of the retreat from Afghanistan were extremely disturbing to most Americans. It’s about who we are as a nation. We don’t leave people behind. We don’t leave allies behind. We don’t empower our enemies. From what I can tell (from afar) my sense is that Afghanistan was a foreign policy failure the magnitude of which I’m sure affected the elections.

JWK: You recently founded The Friedman Center for Peace Through Strength. What’s your mission there?

DF: It’s not a large organization. It’s a platform by which we can focus on certain things that we think are important to the US-Israel relationship. In the short term, I’ve been a vocal advocate for not opening up a second diplomatic mission in Jerusalem for the Palestinians. I think it’s a betrayal of Israel. I think it will divide Jerusalem against the wishes of the American people, against the Jerusalem Embassy Act. I think it will do nothing to advance the cause of peace and I think it could create a real unnecessary rift, a real unforced error, in the relationship between Israel and the United States. So, in the short term we’re focusing on that.

We’ve (also) been focusing on bringing Muslim leaders to Jerusalem to see the respect that Israel gives to all the holy sites of all the Abrahamic faiths. We’re working on some of the holy sites in Israel, trying to get them a higher profile. I think there are places of incredible biblical significance in Israel that I think more people should see so they can understand – both for themselves and in terms of the significance to Israel – the biblical heritage of the country. I mean most people know about it but I think there’s something very powerful about seeing some of these places. Not everything is as accessible as it should be. We’re working on other things too.

JWK: Getting back to the docuseries, what can we expect to see? Are there any revelations that will surprise people?

DF: First of all, we speak to really almost all the voices – all the people – that had a major role to play in the Abraham Accords and we try to tell the story through their voices. We began on the domestic side with President Trump, Secretary (of State) Pompeo, Vice President Pence, (UN Ambassador) Haley, Jared Kushner, (presidential advisor) Avi Berkowitz , me and others…Then we went off to Israel and we spoke with the Prime Minister of Israel, Ambassador Dermer, the head of the Mossad (and) the head of the (Israeli) Security Agency…We went off to Abu Dhabi and met with the Foreign Minister there. We went off to Bahrain and met with the Foreign Minister. We spoke to ambassadors. We spoke to business leaders (and) people on the street who had something to do with promoting the Abraham Accords.

We really told the story and also, I think equally important, I hope we educate the public not just about the Abraham Accords but about the conflicts – the series of conflicts – that existed between peoples, between countries, between governments – all the conflicts that were teed up and that the Abraham Accords, at least in part, resolved – in some cases fully resolved, in other cases went a ways to resolve.

We also told the story about how the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is one which can be resolved but only can be resolved if we walk away from this false notion that the Palestinians should have a veto on everything that happens in the Middle East. By releasing the veto, by getting nations to work with Israel even without a peace deal with the Palestinians, I think we teed up a resolution of the unresolved conflicts in a way where there’s actually some hope.

JWK: I guess that pressures the PLO to negotiate more seriously.

DF: It’s not about pressure. It’s about giving the Palestinians themselves – the leadership is deeply flawed – a vision of the future that is optimistic, prosperous and worth pursuing. That’s really our goal and I think we’ve done some of that.

JWK: What was it like working with President Trump – and what do you say to those who have tried to paint him as anti-Semitic? I’m not saying Trump was perfect but, considering his relationship with his son-in-law, daughter and, actually, Israel, I always found that charge to be particularly absurd.

DF: Look, I never would have worked for him if I thought he was anti-Semitic. I’ve known him for more than 20 years and never heard him say anything that was anti-Semitic. I couldn’t possibly work for anybody that I felt was anti-Semitic. It would go against everything I stand for.

The President is the most transparent leader probably in history and you get with that some good and some bad. You know, on his way to the helicopter he’ll stop off and talk to the press and he’ll take as long as he feels like and sometimes it could be an hour. He’ll answer every question and talk about everything and it’s completely unscripted. So, he’ll say something. They’ll be a bunch of gaffes from time to time because, you know, if you talk to a bunch of skillful reporters for an hour you’re gonna make some gaffes.

On the other hand, you actually get an authentic view of the presidency and what he cares about and what’s important to him – and, you know, you see now you have a president who’s entirely scripted and barely speaks to the press. Of course, if you don’t talk to the press you’re less likely to be criticized but that wasn’t Trump. Trump was very transparent.

He gave us very clear direction. He gave us a huge amount of freedom to operate within the bounds of his overall vision and he empowered us to go forward…on the Abraham Accords. He empowered us to get it done. We couldn’t have gotten it done with another president because President Trump gave us the direction, the leadership and the guidance and then said “Go out and do it!” He had confidence enough to get it done. That, to me, is really true leadership.

JWK: What do you hope viewers take from this series?

DF: I think there are a few takeaways here. First, I think it’s a very important story about the need for people to challenge the status quo. Challenge it respectfully, challenge it in good faith but (don’t) accept the kind of calcified wisdom of others. Whether it’s the State Department or the Defense Department, you do much better when you challenge everything and think and try to do the right thing, assuming you’re acting in good faith. So, that’s part of the story.

(Another) part of the story is really how there are some biblical things here that are really coming back to life. You know, Jews and Arabs were not always enemies. Back 4000 years ago when Isaac and Ishmael were born to Abraham, they were great rivals…but they did reconcile. They reconciled when they went and buried their father. That reconciliation is viewed with much favor in the Bible. Now, 4000 years later we’re seeing that reconciliation come alive again. It’s really a story that people can get over their ancient grievances if they just look forward and stop harping on the grievances of the past. I think that’s a very important message.

(Finally) I think it gives people a real glimpse into one of the transformational diplomatic achievements of the last 50 years and, again, like you pointed out, one that got very little attention in the mainstream media. I think it’s a very educational and uplifting story. I think it is a story that has great biblical and theological overtones and it’s story of leadership and how people who kind of challenged the status quo were able to succeed.

JWK: The part of your answer about reconciliation and letting go of old grievances makes me think that there’s also a lesson for the US domestically with Wokism pushing people to remain locked in battle over issues of the past rather than enjoying the present and looking forward toward building a brighter future.

DF: A lot of times throughout history people have manipulated ancient grievances for self-interest (and) for political gain. I think most people want a brighter future for their children. That was probably the theme of the election in Virginia, not that I’m an expert in that. I think everybody who has children or grandchildren or loves somebody who has children or grandchildren, that’s what they care about. They want their lives to be better. They want an optimistic, prosperous future. Everything else is interesting. It’s worth studying. You know, you can take courses on it. Everybody needs to know their past because it forms who we are. I never suggest that we should not know our past. I was a history major in college and I’m a big history buff but the whole context of history is to learn from it in order to go forward. That’s what really matters. I think that’s certainly a message – maybe the message – of the Abraham Accords.

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11