Not Perfect. Still Remarkable. The Abraham Accords Six Years Later

Six years ago this month, something remarkable happened in the Middle East. On September 15, 2020, representatives of Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain gathered at the White House to sign what became known as the Abraham Accords. A few months later, Morocco joined the process, as did Sudan. For the first time in a quarter century, Arab nations were establishing formal relations with the State of Israel.

At the time, I wrote to our congregation about what an extraordinary development this was. I wrote about it again a year later. And now six years have passed. The anniversary deserves to be acknowledged and celebrated.  Not because everything has gone according to plan. Quite the contrary. Think of what these agreements have been required to survive. October 7^th, and the terrible war that followed. The enormous suffering and political turmoil throughout the region. The deterioration of Israel's relations with much of the international community. War involving Iran and its proxies. Public anger in many Arab countries. Profound disagreements between Israel and some of the very governments that signed the Abraham Accords.

If someone had told us on that beautiful September afternoon in 2020 what the next six years would bring, I suspect many of us would have wondered whether these agreements could possibly survive it. But they did. And that may tell us something very important about what a successful relationship actually looks like.

We often judge an achievement by whether it prevents the next crisis. But perhaps that is the wrong test. Perhaps the better test is whether it survives the crisis when it comes.

The Abraham Accords did not eliminate the ancient conflicts of the Middle East. They did not make Israel and its new Arab partners agree about everything. They did not prevent war between Israel and her enemies.

But neither did those disagreements destroy what had been created.

Trade between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has grown into the billions of dollars. Tourism and direct air travel have increased. Cooperation developed in technology, medicine, food security, energy and regional security. Despite the upheavals of recent years, those basic ties have endured. UAE figures show bilateral trade of more than $3 billion in merchandise trade in 2025

And just days ago, as the sixth anniversary was being commemorated, Israel and Morocco announced plans to deepen their relationship, upgrading diplomatic missions to embassies, appointing ambassadors, expanding direct flights and pursuing additional economic agreements.

We celebrate this anniversary on the eve of Sukkot. Every year we leave the stability of our homes and enter a structure that is deliberately fragile.  The Sukkah is not supposed to be a fortress. Its walls need not withstand every force of nature. A Sukkah reminds us that security and permanence are not the same thing.

Sometimes the things that endure are not the things that cannot be shaken. They are the things that can be shaken and still remain standing.

Perhaps that is true of nations. Perhaps it is true of friendships. Perhaps it is true of marriages and families. Certainly it is true of the Jewish people.

And perhaps that is one reason this anniversary belongs so naturally to Sukkot. The real test of a relationship is not whether it survives the good years. It is whether it survives the bad ones.

A friendship in which no one ever disagrees has never really been tested. A marriage that has known only ease has never really been tested. A covenant that survives only when life is comfortable is not much of a covenant. The Torah itself tells the story of a covenant repeatedly tested by disappointment, failure, rebellion and crisis, yet repeatedly renewed.

Six years ago, several nations in the Middle East decided that old assumptions did not have to govern the future forever. They decided that they could disagree, sometimes profoundly, and still trade with one another, speak with one another, cooperate with one another, and recognize one another. That was significant in 2020. After everything that has happened since October 7, perhaps its significance is even clearer today.

There is much about the Middle East that should worry us. There are terrible problems that remain unresolved. And no serious person should imagine that one diplomatic initiative has brought peace to the region. Neither should anyone underestimate or dismiss its significance, or its potential.  It has been tested, and it has survived.

Sukkot also teaches us not to overlook blessings simply because they are incomplete or imperfect. We sit in a fragile Sukkah and still call this festival Z'man Simchateinu, the season of our rejoicing. We celebrate not because everything is secure, but because even amid uncertainty, there are things worth protecting, strengthening and building upon. The Abraham Accords are certainly among them.

May the years ahead allow what began six years ago not merely to survive, but to expand,  bringing more cooperation, more recognition, more prosperity and, ultimately, more peace to Israel and to all the peoples of the region.