Controversial Fraternity: Abrahamic Discourse as a Justification for Arab-Israeli Normalization

Abstract

Over the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Islamist scholars affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots have disseminated anti-Jewish religious discourse based on selective interpretations of Quranic verses and prophetic traditions. This rhetoric contributed to the development of a negative perception of Jews among broad segments of the Arab public, who viewed the former as unacceptable partners for peace and normalization. From the Camp David Accords to the Abraham Accords, as Arab regimes gradually pivoted toward the signing of peace treaties with Israel, they advanced alternative religious discourses in order to justify their groundbreaking policies and counter the Islamist approach. Based on the narratives introduced by the Egyptian, Jordanian, and Emirati regimes through their leaders, clerics, and other official outlets, this article argues that the figure of Abraham and the accompanying “Abrahamic discourse” have been pivotal in these regimes’ campaigns to legitimize the shift from rivalry to normalization with Israel. By promoting the metaphor of Abraham as the common ancestor and unifying element of Islam and Judaism, Arab regimes have tapped into an effective mechanism to portray Jews as historical neighbors of the Muslims and to reconstitute a broader narrative of Islamic-Jewish coexistence in the Middle East as religiously lawful and even desirable.