Israel And UAE Strike Deal For "Full Normalization Of Relations".
BLITZER: The White House touting a major win in the Middle East this week after Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced a truly historic peace deal. The two nations agreed to normalize their relationship and unprecedented development in the history of Israel and the Gulf Arab states. And as part of the agreement, Israel will temporarily suspend plans to annex parts of the West Bank. CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Aaron David Miller, is joining us right now. He was a senior Middle East negotiator in the State Department during both Republican and Democratic administrations. And as you and I well know, we've covered this for a long time, certainly isn't the first peace deal in the Middle East between Israel and an Arab state. I remember I was a young reporter back in 1979, when Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty, establishing full diplomatic relations that's still in business. I went with President Bill Clinton to talk Aqaba, Jordan in 1994, when Israel and Jordan signed a peace deal that still remains in effect. How important, how significant is this one, Aaron, between Israel and the United Arab Emirates?</s>AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You know, I think it's really interesting, Wolf, to follow the diverse reaction. On one hand, you've got a lot of people touting this as the greatest historical breakthrough since the invention of saran wrap. And on the other hand, you have people trying to trivialize it, and denigrate it by claiming it's a betrayal of the Palestinians and it's a step backward. And I think as usual, Wolf, the answer lies somewhere in between. I mean, unprecedented to be sure. The first of this process of normalization between the State of Israel and a Gulf Arab State, which is absolutely critical. And I think what it reflects, Wolf, is the kind of harsh reality that the region is changing, the rise of Iran, the resurgence of transnational jihadi terror, Arab state frustration, and exhaustion with the Palestinian problem and a strong desire, particularly in the part of the Emiratis, not just to improve their relationship with the Trump administration, they read the polls in Washington, they also want to position themselves in the event that Joe Biden becomes president. All of these factors have created a situation where more Arab States than ever before are willing to untether themselves, not completely, but to a large extent, from the Palestinian issue in order to follow their own interests.</s>BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, the New York Times columnist, Tom Friedman, says this is a huge deal. David Ignatius, the columnist for The Washington Post says it's a huge deal. I think it's a huge deal as well, especially because it does open the door now, and tell me if you agree for Israel to normalize relations with other countries, whether Oman or Bahrain or Morocco in the Arab world. Do you think it will?</s>MILLER: I think it will, over time, assuming that a couple things kick in. This deal needs traction. First of all, the arrangements need to be worked out between the Emirates and the Israelis. And Israeli delegation is en route to Abu Dhabi probably next week to begin to work on these details. It'll be interesting also to see, Wolf, where the Emiratis decide to put their embassy, will it be in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv? But I think there's a really good chance that the Omanis, the Bahrainis, maybe even the Moroccans follow suit. And, of course, I'm not sure we're on the cusp of this, but the big prize, the one that would represent a sort of strategic reorientation is if the Israelis and the Saudis follow the same course that the Israelis and the Emiratis are on. All of this assumes, by the way, Wolf, that Mr. Netanyahu maintains his quote unquote, suspension of annexation. And there's one other missing piece, and that is as important as this is, there is still the reality of the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian issue. The Arabs have opened the door. The real question, and I think that's a stunning development. The real question is, whether or not, you can get traction on the Israeli Palestinian track and move that forward in the same direction, and I'm more dubious on that one.</s>BLITZER: Well, that raises the important issue for those of us, I know you agree, and I agree that there should be, in the end, a two-state solution, Israel living alongside a new state of Palestine peaceful coexistence working together. Where does this impact the prospect of that? Because we've been getting a lot of negative reaction from the Palestinian Authority leadership.</s>MILLER: You know, I think it demonstrates to the Palestinians that the Arab states are prepared to significantly untether themselves. But at the same time, it leaves the Palestinians with very, very bad options. There is no serious option of armed struggle. And again, to be fair, neither the current government of Israel nor the Trump administration has in any way shape or form, in my judgment, offered, what you could call a fair and equitable basis for negotiation with Palestinians. Should the Arabs push both in that direction? And should an American administration respond positively? You might end up getting the beginnings of a serious negotiation. But I'm afraid, Wolf, that for the moment, we're going to be stuck in the space between the two-state solution that's too important still to abandon, in my judgment, on one hand, and a two-state solution that simply too difficult to implement on the other. And in that space, we're going to see how well, Israeli Arab state relations will be able to thrive.</s>BLITZER: How much credit do you give the President of the United States, Jared Kushner, his senior advisor and son-in-law, for putting this deal together between the Israelis and the Emiratis?</s>MILLER: I knew you were going to ask me that question, Wolf. You know, this is a region where American ideas go to die. There's no question about it. And, frankly, looking at three years of the Trump administration in the Middle East, there are bumbles, stumbles, and fumbles, to some degree, actually, to a large degree. This represents a very smart play. Now, they built on an already emerging foundation, driven by arising Iran, which generated Israeli Arab state coincidence of interests, transnational Sunni jihadi terror, which did the same thing. But from the beginning of this administration, they made a bet that they could somehow persuade. And I'm not sure the Arab states needed much persuading, if in fact, they were to be well received in Washington. They made the Arab states a priority, the Saudis in particular. So, I think, in that respect, they built on a foundation. And there's no doubt that this required an enormous amount of personal interaction. It was likely between the president's son-in-law and the Emiratis. Let's just hope that they can be as skillful and willful on the rest of this broken, angry and dysfunctional region.</s>BLITZER: Yes, the Israelis have had the secret contacts with a lot of these countries in recent years, but now going public, that's a major development. Aaron David Miller, as usual, thank you so much for joining us.</s>MILLER: Thank you, Wolf. Take care.</s>BLITZER: All right. So, there's also breaking news coming out of Chicago right now where protesters have been demonstrating against police brutality. They're facing off with police this hour. We're going to Chicago when we come back.