The future of the region
Sitting here in a bomb shelter north of Tel Aviv, listening to our Iron Dome save countless lives in our country and the occasional boom that shakes the ground beneath us, I find myself thinking about the future of our region. I see my friends and colleagues across the Arab and Muslim world suffering from the same rockets under the same sky. I can’t help but think about the future of the Abraham Accords and of our region, how, please G-d, all this extra exercise of running to the bomb shelter will be the start of a brighter coalition of moderate countries in the region, grouping, working together against extremism and promoting the values of coexistence.
As the Lebanese people confront Hezbollah’s dominance, and as Israel faces rockets launched by Iranian-backed forces, it is increasingly clear that this is part of a broader regional pattern. The Iranian regime’s missiles and proxies are not limited to one battlefield; they threaten stability across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and beyond. When rockets fly and proxies operate across borders, we all suffer the same outcome.
The Abraham Accords were never just about diplomacy; let this moment also show us the future to which the Abraham Accords can expand, not only cooperation in times of war or shared threats, but a deeper commitment to promoting moderate voices and strengthening collaboration in business, technology, innovation, and civil society. The true power of normalization lies in building economic interdependence, cultural exchange, and people-to-people connections that make peace tangible.
Here in Israel, we just celebrated Purim, and it was a reminder to stand up and be proud of our identity. But the story of Purim is louder than that. It reminds us that in the face of those who want to destroy us, we must stand proud and confident in who we are. We see this reflected across our neighboring countries as well. They, too, are becoming louder and prouder of their identities, standing up against extremism and refusing to let it define them. The reality of this moment, on Purim, presents an opportunity. It is a moment for the region to recognize the shared threat and to deepen cooperation against these destabilizing forces. A stronger coalition of moderate states working together on security, intelligence, technology, and diplomacy is not only possible but necessary to safeguard the future of our region.
My professional career has been spent at Sharaka bringing people to Israel who grew up with aggression toward Israeli people, people from across the region who were raised on antisemitic stereotypes, and who come to this land out of curiosity, wanting to understand what they have never been shown or taught. We take them to Yad Vashem, to the National Library in Jerusalem, and to Haifa. I teach these groups about the Holocaust and how its lessons speak to the dangers of extremism and hatred. I look around and think, if only I could see this land through their eyes. If only I could experience the journey of discovering the reality of this country, a country that, yes, may not be perfect, but is a land of coexistence, of beauty, of kind hearted people who, above all, know resilience like no other. We then work together on how to become ambassadors for interfaith understanding and dialogue, carrying these lessons back to our communities.
As I watch what is unfolding across the region, I see, and I pray that more and more people from across the Arab and Muslim world will have the blessing of seeing this miracle of a land for themselves. That they will wake up to the voices of normalization and understand that the threats of extremism do not distinguish between us. The extremists target the moderate voices who dare to be bridge-builders across societies and those who believe in cooperation and coexistence. Our shared future depends not on fear, but on partnership.
Sitting here in this shelter, under the same sky as millions of others across the Middle East, I believe that story is still being written. And despite the sirens, despite the darkness, its future is as bright as ever.
