Expanding the Abraham Accords in 2025?

Good news for peace: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is optimistic about expanding the Abraham Accords in the Middle East and Africa.

President Donald J. Trump, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyanisigns sign the Abraham Accords Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

When the Abraham Accords were first announced in 2020, they landed with a thud in most major media markets. Signed between Israel and several Arab states — including the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco — the agreements were greeted with polite but muted coverage. Critics shrugged, calling them performative or politically motivated. Others dismissed them entirely, arguing that any peace deal excluding the Palestinians was doomed from the start.

But now, in 2025, with much of the Middle East spiraling into chaos, those earlier dismissals look shortsighted. While violence rages in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen — and U.S. influence in the region fades — the relationships forged by the Accords have quietly grown stronger. Trade routes remain open. Business partnerships have flourished. Cross-cultural exchanges continue. In a region consumed by fresh conflict, the Accords have become a rare thread of stability.

“In hindsight, the Accords were a tectonic shift,” admitted one diplomat. “They decoupled broader Arab-Israeli cooperation from the Palestinian conflict — something most believed impossible.”

As world powers scramble to contain regional unrest, the Abraham Accords now stand as a…