CNN:

The impending peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel is a game-changer for the entire Middle East.

In addition to wedding one of world's wealthiest states (the UAE) with its most innovative (Israel), it also opens new avenues toward peace. Realizing that other Arab states may soon follow the UAE's lead, and that time is no longer on their side, the Palestinians may well return to the negotiating table.

An Israeli public that is secure in its newfound relations with the Arab world will be more likely to make concessions. Stalemated for almost 30 years, the peace process might finally be revived.

More than its economic and diplomatic potential, though, the UAE-Israel accord is of immense strategic value. It signifies the emergence of a united Middle Eastern front against Iran. Such an alliance was necessitated by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- the Iran nuclear deal. Contrary to hopes that it would transform Iran into a responsible regional power, the JCPOA bolstered Iranian efforts to gain even greater power in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and support terror worldwide. The JCPOA did not prohibit Iran from developing more advanced centrifuges, capable of swiftly enriching uranium and significantly reducing the time Iran would need to create a nuclear arsenal. Similarly, that agreement -- which the US concluded along with the European powers, Russia, and China -- did not compel Iran to cease developing technology that could be used to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Europe and the US, as experts worry they are doing under cover of a space program.
To more effectively defend themselves against such grave dangers, Israel and Sunni Arab states sought an open alliance.

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