US Congress moves to boost Abraham Accords military co-operation as Israel-Gaza war strains ties

Washington is increasing efforts to expand on the landmark accords as tension between Israel and its Arab neighbours intensifies

Republican Senator Joni Ernst, right, discusses the Abraham Accords at an Atlantic Council event in Washington. Photo: The Atlantic Council

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Even as regional escalation dims hopes of achieving a ceasefire deal between Israel and Gaza, the US Congress is moving to boost the Abraham Accords with two bipartisan bills aimed at enhancing intelligence sharing and relationship building.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst, co-chairwoman of the congressional Abraham Accords Caucus, this week introduced two bills alongside Democratic senators Jacky Rosen and Kirsten Gillibrand to bolster the alliance and strengthen its posture against Iran, as the regional spillover from Israel's war in Gaza continues to spread.

Ms Ernst does not see peace in the region “coming quickly”, but believes it is critical for Washington to “build upon these alliances, even in dark days like this”, she told the Atlantic Council on Wednesday.

During her remarks, she announced the bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Allied Collaboration for Crucial Operations, Research and Development Act (AI ACCORD) Act, which seeks to ensure Abraham Accords nations will “be able to utilise the most advanced technology to deter Iranian aggression and maintain regional stability”.

The bill will require the Pentagon to submit a strategy for improved co-operation between US allies and partners in the Middle East “to combat the use of cyber and artificial intelligence tools by Iran and its proxies”.

The announcement unfolded amid a second wave of attacks on Hezbollah members in Lebanon, after a thousands of pagers exploded on Tuesday in a deadly operation thought to have been conducted by Israel.

Earlier this week, Ms Ernst introduced the Learning Integrated National Knowledge, or LINK Act, alongside Ms Rosen, which aims to establish a “military expert exchange programme” with Abraham Accords countries and other regional partners “to connect strategic, operational, and tactical senior commanders and strengthen security and military partnerships”.

The two bills “are throwing the weight of the US Congress behind” the accords, said Ms Ernst.

“We are formalising these agreements, and we are saying, with the weight of the Congress and the State Department, we are going to invest in these strategic partnerships, collaborations, exchanges. And so it's not just maybe a one off that's designed by a unit commander or even a combatant commander, but it is a formalised agreement that shows the rest of the world that the United States is committed to these countries,” she added.

The landmark agreements established relations between Israel and four Arab countries. The UAE and Bahrain signed the accords – brokered by the US – in September 2020 to establish formal ties with Israel. Morocco and Sudan signed later on.

A largely pro-Israel Washington sees the country's normalisation with its Arab neighbours as an important strategic step in tempering threats from Iran, as well as bolstering US posture against a growing Chinese presence in the region.

In the run-up to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, there had been growing optimism in Washington that Saudi Arabia would soon sign on to the accords. President Joe Biden's regional priorities had almost completely centred on clinching the official establishment of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

But the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 41,200 Palestinians and spilt over into fighting and proxy attacks in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen, derailed that sense of momentum.

Ms Ernst believes the relationship-building and information-sharing focus of the LINK and AI ACCORD acts will help to eventually foster a dynamic where “someday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has military officers or non-commissioned officers that will be serving alongside troops in the IDF [Israeli military]”.

For Ms Ernst and a large portion of Congress's more hawkish foreign policy leadership, the chaotic moment requires enhanced efforts from Washington to ensure the security and expansion of the accords, and a continued focus on the Middle East despite attempts by several administrations to pivot their foreign policy focus away from the region.

She pointed to the UAE as an example of “an incredible partner”.

“The soldiers from UAE have served alongside American soldiers in every conflict in modern history, and yet, when the Houthis attacked the UAE just a handful of years ago, there was no response from the White House, not even a phone call to say we're very sorry for your loss,” Ms Ernst said, referring to the 2022 attack by the Yemen-based rebels on Abu Dhabi.

“So not maintaining these relationships, not continuing to court the people that have stood beside us, I think, is a great failure of leadership.”

Ms Ernst said she hopes to pass the bills through the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2025, the annual national defence budget, as partisan rifts in Washington threaten to derail the budget process.