Donald Trump has called on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan to sign the Abraham Accords, the diplomatic agreements he brokered during his first term to normalise relations with Israel. The US president made the request in a social media post on Saturday, stating that he is "mandatorily requesting" all countries to immediately sign the accords, which he described as an "unparalleled World Coalition."
The Abraham Accords were a series of diplomatic and commercial agreements forged in 2020 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, with significant US influence. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to expand the accords, and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza could facilitate talks with other majority-Muslim nations.
The term "Abraham Accords" draws on the shared reverence for the biblical patriarch Abraham across Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, representing over half the world's population. Abraham, known as Ibrahim to Muslims, is often invoked to bridge interfaith divides, though his legacy can also be a source of discord as different faiths claim him as their own.
Bruce Feiler, author of "Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths," noted that each religion has sought to assert exclusive ownership over Abraham's story. However, he emphasised that "the story belongs to all of us, the land will need to be shared, and the legacy will need to be a shared legacy for all of us." The accords aim to leverage this shared figure to foster peace between the Jewish state of Israel and Muslim-majority nations.
