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The first anniversary of the Abraham Accords was marked by events that recognized the historic achievement of the peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and looked forward to the positive regional changes that the accords have made possible.

On Tuesday, the Abraham Accords Peace Institute, established earlier this year by Jared Kushner, hosted an event that included a panel featuring Israel’s Ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan, UAE’s Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba and Bahrain’s Ambassador to the US Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid al-Khalifa.

The Times of Israel reports that, "Each of the envoys highlighted the benefits that the normalization agreements had brought to their respective countries."

Also at that event, Jared Kushner warned against neglecting the accords, saying:

If these [normalization] agreements are not nurtured, we run the risk that they could go backward, but if we nourish them properly, the potential for what can come from them is enormous and beyond our expectations.

Dr. Eric R. Mandel writes at The Hill about the “war between the wars,” the low-grade conflict between Israel and Iran, Hezbollah and Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria. Israel is what keeps Iran in check in Syria and Iraq. The goal, Mandel explains, is to prevent a permanent Iranian presence on Israel’s doorstep with advanced weaponry that could tip the scales against Israel’s qualitative military edge. He writes:

Israeli security, intelligence and military analysts have little doubt that there will be a significant war between Israel and Iran-directed proxies in the future; the question is merely when it will occur. The goal of Israel and the United States is to postpone that regional war as far into the future as possible.

Why is this important for American national security interests? Israel is America’s only stable and reliable ally in the Middle East. The best hedge against the US getting drawn back into a Middle East conflict is a militarily strong Israel and a non-nuclear Iran. A strong Israel that deters its enemies is a US security imperative for regional stability. America’s Central Command in the Persian Gulf now will heavily rely on Israel for intelligence, since America is leaving the Middle East. Israeli intelligence — the best in the region — has become even more vital to US analysis and planning, with America’s human intelligence presence almost totally depleted.

…America must not let the War Between the Wars turn hot.

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