Look Toward Saudi Arabia

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  "authors": [
    "Marwan Muasher"
  ],
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  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
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  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
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    "Political Reform",
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In The Media

Look Toward Saudi Arabia

While the crisis in Egypt will have major implications across the Arab world, the peace process will not be significantly affected. The country that will be most crucial in charting a new path forward for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is Saudi Arabia, not Egypt.

By Marwan Muasher

Published on Feb 1, 2011

Source: New York Times

Look Toward Saudi ArabiaThe crisis in Egypt will have major implications for the Arab world, but the peace process will not be significantly affected. While it’s too early to tell at this stage what the shape of a future Egyptian government will take, it is safe to say that any of the potential new leaders will not break Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.

Unlike many other Arab leaders, President Mubarak has enjoyed a solid working relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this hasn’t moved the peace process forward. And it’s important to note that before the protests erupted on the Egyptian streets, relations between Israel and Egypt were cold on a popular level.

Cairo’s influence over the peace process has actually been waning over the last several years. Egypt tried to broker an agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, but didn’t succeed. So even with Egypt’s engagement there have been no tangible breakthroughs in recent years.

The key country to look toward in the Arab world on the peace process is not Egypt, but Saudi Arabia. Along with the United States, Saudi Arabia will be crucial for charting a new plan for getting to the endgame before it’s too late. And this won’t change with new leadership in Cairo.

Egypt has undoubtedly played an important and leading role in pushing the peace process forward in the past, but there’s not much of a peace process at the moment. With this in mind, colder relations between Egypt and Israel will not make a huge difference over the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the short term.

About the Author

Marwan Muasher

Vice President for Studies

Marwan Muasher is vice president for studies at Carnegie, where he oversees research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002–2004) and deputy prime minister (2004–2005) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, development, civil society, and communications.

Recent Work

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The Myriad Problems With the Iran Ceasefire
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Political Reform Security Middle East Israel Egypt Palestine Saudi Arabia Gulf

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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