The Biden administration has sensibly indicated that it fully intends to try to build on the Abraham Accords and expand the number of countries that will participate. We applaud the administration for this move.
But there seems to be pushback at the U.S. State Department about using the name itself, which of course came from former President Donald Trump.
Thus, the Biden State Department has reportedly instructed employees to ordinarily refer to the Abraham Accords as “normalization agreements” and the term “Abraham Accords” has been removed from all documents, statements and official communications. Senior department are also said to have tried to keep the new policy quiet and are “cagey” about explaining it. One official, though, was quoted as saying “This administration is not focused on what these agreements are called but what they mean.”
The kerfuffle is perhaps a bit childish of the Biden team, and clearly of very little moment when compared with the real world possibilities that could be in the offing.
Additionally, we object to any renaming. And not just because the impetus to distance themselves from Trump-era policies is juvenile. But because the name Abraham Accords contains an important symbolism: Our forefather Abraham was a man of peace, and of trying to bring the entire world to the realization that G-d exists and wants what’s best of them. His visionary worldview is what shaped the Abraham Accords – and that name is integral to its success.
