JUSTICE - No. 66

4 No. 66 JUSTICE fter nearly three decades during which no formal treaties were reached between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors, this past year has been an extraordinary period of intensive bridge-building and normalization. The framework for these developments has been the Abraham Accords, a term originally used to describe the joint declaration between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and the United States reached on September 15, 2020 (“the Joint Declaration ”). It is now used more broadly to refer collectively to a wide range of agreements between Israel and a number of Arab states. The Joint Declaration , signed at the White House in Washington, followed a Joint Statement issued by the United States, Israel, and the UAE on August 13, 2020. The Declaration expressed the parties’ commitment to cooperation and dialogue. At the same ceremony, Israel and the UAE also signed a Treaty of Peace , Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization (“the UAE Agreement ”), while Israel and Bahrain signed a Declaration of Peace , Cooperation and Con st ructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations (“the Bahrain Declaration ”). These three accords were followed, on October 18, 2020, by the signing in Manama of a Joint Communiqué on the E st ablishment of Diplomatic, Peaceful and Friendly Relations (“the Bahrain Agreement ”). The circle of normalization widened further on October 23, 2020, with the signing of a Joint Statement of the United States, the Republic of Sudan, and the State of Israel (“the Sudan Agreement ”). Subsequently, on January 6, 2021, at a ceremony in Khartoum, Sudan officially signed its accession to the Joint Declaration of the Abraham Accords. On December 22, 2020, a Joint Declaration was signed in Rabat by the Kingdom of Morocco, the United States of America, and the State of Israel (“the Morocco Agreement ”). At the same ceremony, Israel and Morocco exchanged notes regarding the reopening of liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat. These documents also provided for further agreements in a range of fields to be concluded, and in the months following their signature, intensive negotiations have taken place. A list of agreements negotiated and concluded, and their status, is attached in the Appendix. Preliminary Legal Questions Before considering the content of these various agreements, several preliminary legal questions arise. The first is their status. Are these documents, some of which are termed “Declaration,” “Statement,” or “Communiqué,”actually binding international agreements? A document can be considered a binding treaty under international law regardless of its designation or title. 1 This principle has been upheld by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Referring to a document designated a “Joint Communiqué,” the ICJ found “no rule of international law which might preclude a joint communiqué from constituting an international agreement to submit a dispute to arbitration or judicial settlement.” Rather, the Court determined that the question whether a document constitutes an agreement “essentially depends on the nature of the act or transaction to which the Communiqué gives expression.” 2 The ICJ has expressed similar positions in relation to documents titled“minutes.” 3 There are also many examples of arrangements entitled “Declaration”or similar terms, in which it is clear from the context that these were intended by the parties to be a binding agreement. 4 A similar intention can be The Abraham Accords A Daniel Taub 1. UNVienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 23 May 1969, U.N.T.S., vol. 1155, p. 331, Art. 2, available at https:// www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3a10.html 2. Aegean Sea Continental Shelf, Greece v Turkey, Jurisdiction, Judgment, [1978] ICJ Rep 3, ICGJ 128 (ICJ 1978), 19 December 1978, UN; ICJ, para. 96. 3. Maritime Delimitation andTerritorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain, Jurisdiction and Admissibility, Judgement, I.C.J. R EPORTS , 1994, para. 30. 4. For example, the Joint Declaration of the UK and China on the Question of Hong Kong, signed in December 1984, stipulates in Article 8 that:“…This Joint Declaration and its annexes shall be equally binding.”Similarly, the Joint Declaration made by Portugal and China on the Question of Macao, signed on April 13, 1987, states in Article 7 that it is binding. Both were registered as agreements with the United Nations.