The Abraham Accords, signed four years ago under then-President Donald Trump, have continued to benefit the United States and the Middle East, David Aaronson, the deputy director for Israel at the Abraham Accords Peace Institute, told Newsmax Sunday.
"We see that trade is still on the rise despite the war," Aaronson said on Newsmax's "Sunday Report." "We see that military relations, security relations are ongoing, like the Morocco deal with the Israel aerospace industry that was signed during the war. And we've seen that there have been technological relations, agricultural relations relationships, as well as in areas of water and education."
The accords, which led to recognition agreements between Israel and Muslim nations, also benefited the rest of the world, said Aronson.
"When the countries of the Middle East are at peace with each other, there's less of a need for the U.S. to get involved militarily, so it's also benefiting America as well," he said.
The peace deal also opened the door to new economic pacts in the Gulf and has helped in the defense of Israel, said Aaronson.
"If you saw on April 14 when Iran launched the missile attack against Israel, all these countries came together to take down these missiles to intercept them," he said. "That security coordination is essential to defeating Iran and its proxies, and we're all in the same boat here."
"The Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Polisario, all of Iran's proxies, they hate Israel. They hate America. They hate the Abraham Accords countries. So it's our duty to work together to stop Iran and its proxies from achieving their goals and destroying us," he said.
Trump and Democrat nominee Kamala Harris were pressed during their debate last week on the handling of Israel.
Harris said Israel has the right to defend itself, but her administration would call for charting a two-state solution.
But Trump insisted that if Harris becomes president, "Israel will not exist within two years from now."
Aaronson said he needs the United States to be strong in the region military and economically, but that hasn't been the case in the last few years.
"We've seen as a result of the vacuum, Iran and its proxies have been able to get entrenched in places like Africa and reestablish relations with Saudi Arabia, with Sudan, and especially in Sudan," he said. "It's important, regardless of who the president of the United States is, to have that strong deterrence ... you have to show the enemy that they've been defeated."
He talked about how important a cease-fire is.
"We just can't get a cease-fire automatically. It has to be built with victory, unity, and deterrence. And until we have that, it's going to be more difficult," he said.
The countries in the region, Israel included, are watching to see who wins the U.S. presidency in November, as many things will depend on the election's result, he added.
"But at the end of the day, regardless of the result of the election, we'll have to know how to defend ourselves by ourselves and to keep the peace treaties going, regardless of what happens in Washington," Aaronson said.
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