Amid the horror in Gaza, it’s easy to miss that the Middle East has changed

As we watch the horrors of another war in the Middle East, it is easy to get gloomy and depressed. It seems that the region as a whole continues to be violent and unstable. But that misses an important shift that has taken place in recent times, one that provides some cause for optimism about the future: The Arab states that are now the Middle East’s leaders are playing an important and constructive role in stabilizing the situation and are working for peace. This is a sea change from decades past.

The country that for decades defined the Arab world’s agenda was Egypt, especially under charismatic leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. Nasser’s core ideology was Arab nationalism with a strong anti-Israeli component. The other large Arab states, Syria and Iraq, were equally fiery in their condemnations of Israel. They often embraced a policy of “rejectionism” which opposed any concessions toward Israel. Saudi Arabia, as the custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites, joined in giving the struggle against Israel a religious tone. In 2002, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia authorized a telethon to aid the relatives of Palestinian “martyrs” killed by Israel, including those of terrorists. It raised roughly $100 million.

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