Are Israel s recent peace agreements with several Arab countries a step in the right direction ?
Not really. On the one hand, peace is always welcome. But the agreements were made in a period in which Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights are becoming more severe, and without any requirement that those violations cease.
The idea behind the agreements seems to be to demonstrate that Israel can have its cake and eat it too - in other words, to achieve peace with the Arab world while continuing its colonial takeover of the West Bank and maintaining apartheid policies with respect to all Palestinians without consequence.
It is not an accident that the agreements have been reached with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Morocco - all repressive Arab states that received various rewards from the U.S., including, in the case of the UAE, a promise to sell them F-35 fighter aircraft. This seems more like cementing a military alliance among anti-democratic states than a move to usher in genuine peace.
We can support agreements between Israel and Arab states that genuinely support peace and do not disincentivize Israel from respecting Palestinian rights.