The Abraham Accords at Five Years: Resilience and Roadblocks

September 15 marks five years since Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates signed the Abraham Accords, a breakthrough deal by the first Trump administration that served as a framework to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities and widened the circle of peace, with Morocco and Sudan becoming signatories soon thereafter. Although the geopolitical shocks that emerged from October 7 and the Gaza war have slowed momentum toward further expansion, no country has withdrawn from the Accords. Yet many potential roadblocks to wider U.S.-led normalization still loom, including international furor over the ongoing war, Israeli far-right efforts to permanently extinguish the two-state vision, and uncertain fallout from unprecedented military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program.

To assess the framework’s progress, perils, and paths forward, The Washington Institute is pleased to announce a virtual Policy Forum with former officials and leading experts Yael Lempert, Amir Hayek, Ahdeya al-Sayed, and Victoria Coates, to be moderated by David Makovsky, head of the Institute’s Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations.

Victoria Coates is the former deputy national security advisor to President Trump, focusing on strategic communications, National Security Council policy related to the Middle East peace process, and development of the National Security Strategy. Currently the vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, she has previously worked as an advisor to Congress and various federal agencies.

Amir Hayek served as Israel’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2021 to 2024, playing a key role in strengthening diplomatic and economic ties. Currently a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s N7 Initiative, he has also held leadership roles in Israel’s Trade Ministry, Export Institute, Manufacturers Association, Hotel Association, and Standards Institute.

Yael Lempert is a distinguished U.S. diplomat who has served as ambassador to Jordan (2023-25), senior director for the Levant, Israel, and Egypt at the National Security Council (2014-17), and special assistant to the president (2015-17). Previously, her foreign service career included posts in Jerusalem and extensive work on the China, Libya, Egypt, and Iraq portfolios.

Ahdeya al-Sayed is former president of the Bahrain Journalists Association and the first woman elected as its chair. Recipient of the 2019 Female Arab Journalist of the Year award from the London Arabia Organisation, she has also worked as a media advisor to the Bahraini government, a local newspaper reporter, and a political television show host.

The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.