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Flight 971, an El Al Boeing 737, took off from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv and landed in Abu Dhabi this week. So what? It was a double first. Not only was this the first direct flight

from Israel to a Gulf state, but it traversed Saudi airspace, flying right over Riyadh. Accustomed to living in a hostile environment, Israelis know what this means: it means peace with the

Arabs. Perhaps Europeans, now experiencing temporary interruptions in air travel due to Covid-19, can muster a little empathy with a nation which the Arab world has kept in quarantine since

its inception more than 70 years ago. For most of that time, the West has been obsessed with what it calls “the Middle East peace process”. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has

been treated as the key to stability in a volatile region. During that time, there has been plenty of process, but not much peace. The Palestinians were given a veto, and they used it to

leverage endless concessions, while always refusing to renounce their claims to the whole of “Palestine”. Finally, first the Israelis and then the Americans tired of this game, opted out and

moved on. The Trump Administration has even recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and is moving its embassy there. It also accepted Israel’s annexation of the strategically vital Golan

Heights as permanent. Now, to the surprise and not a little consternation of European diplomats, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have signed a peace treaty. The UAE is only the third

Arab country to formally recognise Israel, but it will surely not be the last. The deal was brokered by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, whose role as a troubleshooter has

hitherto attracted scorn. The peace plan he proposed last January was indeed rejected by the Palestinians out of hand, just like all the others. But the Israel-USE treaty is a genuine

triumph for US diplomacy, which could indeed pave the way for the future normalisation of relations between the Jewish state, the Arabs and the wider Islamic world. The Palestinian Authority

can protest as much as it likes, but unless they show that they are serious about a permanent settlement with Israel, history will leave them behind. It is dawning on some Palestinians, if

not their leadership, that they have lost their veto. What has brought about this remarkable shift? It is not that the Middle East is especially tranquil at present. Civil war still rages in

Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Afghanistan; Lebanon and Iraq are fragile; the remnants of the so-called Caliphate are still a threat; Turkey and Greece are closer to war than for half a century.

As the US has reduced its presence, Russia has filled the vacuum. An uneasy balance of power, reminiscent of the 1970s, reigns. By far the most dangerous player in the region, however, is

Iran. It is the aggressive ideology and subversive policies of the Islamic Republic that strike fear into the Middle Eastern monarchs. For some years, Israel has been treated by the Arabs as

a counterweight to the Iranian threat. They may not like Benjamin Netanyahu, but they trust him. They also trust the Mossad to keep Tehran under close surveillance and the Israel Defence

Force to clip the wings of the Revolutionary Guard. When the latter’s notorious commander, General Soleimani, was assassinated by the Americans last January, there were quiet celebrations in

the Gulf. The truth is that Europe has backed the wrong horse and been left behind by Netanyahu, Trump and the UAE. A Biden Presidency might try to turn the clock back, but would fail in

the attempt: history does not repeat itself and the US no longer calls the shots. Who, in any case, would prefer to go back to the days when the world dreaded yet another crisis in the

Middle East? British foreign policy no longer has to march in step with the EU, but so far it has done so in the Middle East. Dominic Raab has recently found himself making common cause with

the EU, China and Russia against American efforts to tighten sanctions against Iran. Not surprisingly, on a visit to Israel last week the Foreign Secretary was rebuked by Netanyahu. Arab

leaders are equally baffled by our kid-glove attitude to the ayatollahs. We have a lot to lose in trade with both Israel and the Arabs. By comparison, British trade with Iran is negligible.

In this respect, the EU’s interests and those of the UK do not coincide. It is time for a change. Boris Johnson could make a start by moving the British Embassy to Jerusalem, the seat of

government in Israel. It would be a bagatelle compared to the courage required by the UAE to sign a treaty with their hereditary enemy. But a bagatelle is all that is required.