A few words about the historic nature of this deal, which today many are downplaying. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1305975008750194688

They are saying that Israel and Sunni Arab states have worked together to counter their common enemy Iran for a long time, and that this doesn't change much. There is a big grain of truth to this. The realpolitik of the region is what it is, and we've known about it for a while.

That said.

1. Symbols matter.

2. Hindsight is 20/20. The rapprochement between Israel and the Gulf states has been going on for many years in almost-plain view, and yet if people suggested that it could lead to recognition, the reaction from people-in-the-know was an eyeroll and a scoff--myself included.

Relative to expectations, not just decades ago just a couple months ago, this is undoubtedly big. It really should give pause to anyone who understands the history of the region.

2. It locks in a fait accompli. The underground rapprochement between Israel and the Gulf could be terminated by any side at any time for any reason, because it was unacknowledged by all sides. Now, parts of it are locked in. The balance of power in the region may change, ...

... relations may cool, as it always happens, but the nations will still have embassies in each other's countries and will still have diplomatic relations. The baseline of what counts as diplomacy between these nations has been raised.

3. Apart from high politics, normalization brings a host of increased relationships--business, cultural...--which shouldn't be underestimated.

More Arabs will visit Tel Aviv and discover that Israeli Jews are normal people and not the hook-nosed devils that too many of their media still portray them as. Israeli businesses will do business deals in Arab nations & create constituencies for rapprochement.

This is something new, something significant, and something that all rational people should acknowledge and celebrate.

4. Symbols, again. Symbols matter, but especially here. Fewer diplomats will refer to Israel as "the Zionist entity" in the UN; and those who do will look more marginalized as more Muslim-majority countries acknowledge Israel and its right to exist. These things reverberate.

In sum: no, this is not "peace in the Middle East." Of course not. But it is genuinely big and historic. Only with a very narrow view could one pretend otherwise.