Peace with a neighbour, normalization with a distant state: what is the difference?

Two kinds of agreement

The peace treaty with Egypt (1979) and the peace treaty with Jordan (1994) ended a state of war between neighbours. They had to settle land, borders, security and water.¹²

The Abraham Accords (2020) set up relations with states that have no border with Israel.³⁴ Each track got a different document: a full treaty with the UAE, a declaration and joint communiqué with Bahrain, and a three-way declaration with Morocco. With Sudan no bilateral agreement was signed at all.⁴

The comparison at a glance

Why is peace with a former enemy harder?

A deal like this has to undo the results of war: who holds which land, where the border runs, how many troops may stand near it and who checks. For Egypt that meant leaving all of Sinai and evacuating settlements.⁷⁸ For Jordan, marking a border and sharing water.⁶²

And there is memory and pain. A public that lost sons in war finds concessions hard, and a leader who signs takes a risk. In distant normalization most of these questions simply do not exist, so it took about a month from first statement to signing.¹⁵¹² It opens trade and flights fast,³¹ but it does not solve a dispute over land, because there was none.

What they all share

In every case leaders decided, and a mediator was in the room: an American president signed all three treaties as witness.¹²¹² And each side got something concrete. Egypt got Sinai and Israel got peace;¹ Jordan got an agreed border and water;² the UAE got annexation suspended and Israel got full relations.¹⁵

And signing was only the start. The treaties with Egypt and Jordan have survived decades and severe crises, but political relations are at a low.³²³⁵ The Abraham Accords survived the war in Gaza, but public support for them in Morocco collapsed.⁴²⁹

And what does this teach about an Israeli–Palestinian deal?

It is the hardest kind

Such a deal would have to settle land, borders, security, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and mutual recognition all at once. Oslo I put exactly these questions off to a later stage,⁴¹ and they are still open.

There is no old border to go back to

With Egypt and Jordan there was an international boundary from the Mandate period.¹⁶ Between Israel and the Palestinians there is no such agreed line: the border itself is part of the negotiation.

Answers have been drafted before

The Clinton Parameters of December 2000 outlined all the issues together, and no agreement was signed.⁴² They were not the only attempt; see Efforts that did not ripen.

The price at home is likely to be high

Even in the easier deals leaders paid a price.¹⁷²⁰ A deal that touches every core issue is likely to meet stronger opposition on both sides. This is an observation, not a forecast.