A year into the Gaza war, grassroots support for Palestinians has surged across the Arab world, but the groundswell has yet to trigger stronger action against Israel, with governments largely ignoring these calls. As the conflict spills into Lebanon and Iran's missile strike on Israel raises fears of further escalation, Arab governments are walking a careful line. While they routinely condemn Israel's invasion -- triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack -- nations with diplomatic ties to Israel have yet to make major policy changes.
"Our government, just like other Arab governments, has ignored the demands of its people, including the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador," said Ahmed, a 27-year-old Bahraini at a September rally in Manama. He asked to be identified by his first name for fear of reprisal. Bahrain, along with Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, recognised Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords of 2020, seeking diplomatic and military support.
Egypt and Jordan, which signed the peace deals with Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively, have not reconsidered those agreements, despite accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the agreement was "covered with dust", but questioned whether scrapping it would help the kingdom or Palestinians. Only Saudi Arabia has publicly shifted, halting normalisation talks with Israel unless a Palestinian state is recognised.
Israel's Gaza offensive has sparked rare prote.
