Noted scholar Raphael Israeli describes the surprising normalization process that occurred during the pandemic year 2020, in his latest book, Glittering Stars in a Dark Landscape: Early Auguries of the 2020 Arab Normalization with Israel.

He explains how the 2020 explosion of the normalization between Israel and some Arab Gulf States was the fruit of a long process of Arab self-reckoning.

Its fruition was crowned, thanks to the efforts of President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, with counsel from presidential advisor Jared Kushner.

The process marks a revolution, insofar as it not only reverses the negative position taken by some Arab States that refused to deal with Israel as long as the Palestinian issue is not resolved, but in view of the Gulf States’ wealth and influence, this reversal will encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

Great economic and political benefits will also accrue to Israel as a result.

(About the Author)

Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 60 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam.