While the political motivations for Arab states to normalize relations with Israel are well known, this session looks at the religious-cultural language around the Abraham Accords. Was this just branding, or a real attempt to rewrite the script of Arab-Jewish relations? And what will be the fate of all this following the Israel-Hamas war?

Toby Greene is visiting fellow at the Middle East Centre and a lecturer in the Department for Political Studies at Bar Ilan University. He is a former Marie Curie Fellow at Queen Mary University of London and has held research and teaching positions at Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University. He earned his PhD from UCL for his thesis on British foreign policy in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. Toby’s research and teaching focuses on foreign policy, with a focus on civilizational identity politics in the Middle East and Europe. He publishes and lectures widely for scholarly, professional and general audiences.    Toby Greene is a visiting fellow in the Middle East Centre at the LSE and a lecturer in politics at Bar Ilan University. He researches identity and foreign policy in Europe and the Middle East and has extensive experience in policy research and political communications. Toby recently returned to the UK with his family after 17 years in Israel.