The troubled intentions often leave to concerns for the Global Economy. Trade and business have been at the heart of new Peace Agreements between israel and some of her original neighbours. The Abraham Accords were signed at the white house just over three years ago, normalising israels relations with the United Arab Emirates and bahrain. Morocco and sudan laterjoined, expanding israels first new Peace Agreement says the deal signed with egypt in 1979 and jordan in 1994. To with egypt in 1979 and jordan in 1994. ,. ,. ,. , � , in 1994. To all of israels friends in 1994. To all of israels friends in in 1994. To all of israels friends in the in 1994. To all of israels friends in the middle in 1994. To all of israels l friends in the middle east, those who are with us today and those who are with us today and those who are with us today and those who will join those who are with us today and those who willjoin us tomorrow, i say peace and today. Before the accords, israels Middle East Goods Trade was worth just over five and a half billion dollars and focused on turkey. But with new partners, its more than doubled to 11. 4 billion last year. There have been growing ties in industries, including israels renowned high tech sector, as well as defense equipment, diamonds and tourism. And with israels Economic Growth forecast to fall from six and a half percent last year to 3. 3 this year, the new political will that made that happen was much needed. Its economy has suffered in recent months because investors have been concerned about the impact of the governments judicial reforms, which have also helped weaken the currency. However, since the war began, the governor of israels central bank has said the economy is well positioned to absorb the economic impact. Even though israel and gazas economies are largely separated. There is a dependence before this latest round of violence completely closed the borders. Some 18,000 gazans crossed into israel every day to work. Many, as you can see here, are now stuck in the west bank. They were bringing much needed cash back with them to what is one of the poorest territories in the world. We dont know when or even if that will resume. And internationally, there are fears that a protracted conflict could also hurt the Global Economy. We hope this ends soon and is contained. Our biggest fear is if it widens, because that would then have a real, really big impact on trade. There is uncertainty about whether this is going to spread further to the whole region, which could impact very much on global Economic Growth. Well, if there is a substantial economic impact, israel will certainly feel it and its much revered tech sector would be the heart of that. So ive been speaking to the Chief Executive of 0urcrowd, which is one of israels leading tech investment firms. Jon medved, thank you very much for talking to us. Can i start by asking about the impact the war is having on israels economy . Can i start by asking about the impact the war is having on israels economy . Because at the last count, 360,000 reservists have been called up to the army, and thats10 or around 10 of the workforce. Its having a significant impact, but not in the way that you would probably anticipate. Many of our people are called up and in the Tech Community its even a higher percentage generally because reservists or people in the age between 20 and 35. And thats sort of prime territory for for the tech work staff. However, it turns out that were pretty resilient and this is not our first crisis. Israel has managed its way through not only previous wars, but things like the pandemic and rather good fashion. And what happens is that when people are out serving the country in the reserves, we have experience with that every year. Every reservist goes for a month or two anyway, and we know how to cover for them. In particular, the Tech Community is providing leadership also to use this technology for the various Special Forces Units and other units in the army. Jon, you mentioned new tools that the Israeli Tech Sector has been able to put into the hands of the military at short notice. Can you offer any insight as to what they are . Preferably not too much detail, but ill give you this the broad sectors which are pretty obvious. Were very good at cybersecurity, and thats both offensive and defensive. In order to eliminate the hamas leadership, we need to find them and track them down. We have a Company Called syabra who is really leading in terms of the fighting, the fake news. Theyve discovered over A Hundred Thousand iranian bots that have been created to spread this disinformation. Theres also call it robotics and tele operated vehicles. I wont go into too much detail there, but you can imagine how important these are in terms of saving our soldiers lives and bringing the war to the enemy in the most effective manner. And then perhaps the one that were most proud of here is our portfolio Company Called imprest, which happens to be the provider of all the software that runs the iron dome anti missile system, which is really one of the wonders of the technology world, the fact that were able to protect so many people from this horrible, evil, sort of indiscriminate, targeted missiles against civilians. I want to ask you, jon, now about the Abraham Accords signed just three years ago, normalizing relations with uae, bahrain and others, also starting new trade relationships important for your industry. Obviously, the tech industry, if benefit is in particular, what have they meant for you and for israeli business in general . They have been a complete and total game changer. The Abraham Accords brought down what i call the sand curtain, which is equivalent really to the iron curtain, and the same kind of important sort of foundational moment that occurred when east and Western Europe came together is happening now in the middle east. And while there may or may not be momentary setbacks and ups and downs in this process, theres no stopping the process. And weve been very active at 0urcrowd in terms of working with the emiratis, the moroccans, the bahrainis, and were very hopeful that this circle will soon expand to include saudi arabia. I visited there several times and i have an enormous interest and appreciation for what theyre doing in the Technology Area and theres going to be tremendous ability to cooperate with them. Ijust think this is a great thing for humanity, for the world. And one thing the accords did, of course, was, as you say, strengthened relations through trade. But some of those partners have been somewhat quiet about this latest israel hamas conflict. I wonder from the Business Leaders that you speak to across the region, whats your sense of how theyve changed the dynamic . Theres a difference between what you say in public and what you say in private, for sure. But even the public statements have actually been much better than in the past and have been heartening. And these kinds of processes, we are bringing people together to friendship and to cooperation and to prosperity. After decades of hostility or animosity, they dont happen overnight. You cantjust snap your finger and say, okay, lets sing kumbaya and be buddies. Its about Building Relationships is about Finding Commonality and common ground. But are you concerned that the business links that have been forged could be unraveled because of the turmoil that were seeing . Lets just say that im conscious that thats always a possibility, but i dont see it happening. And, in fact, im very, very proud of our partnerships. I mean, weve got a Subsidiary Working in abu dhabi with dozens of people. Were continuing to hire more people there. It doesnt look like this war is going to end quickly. And i wonder if youre concerned that if it drags on, then could investments into israel and the region suffer if it goes on for six months or more than that . Suffer . If it goes on for six months or more than that . So thats a problem. But i think that well resolve this in a reasonable time frame. I mean, look, any war is not reasonable, right . In other words, we would love a situation where we didnt have to fight a war. I think that what weve seen every time weve gone to war is that the israeli economy has further grown. After the war is resolved, stock market goes up, investment goes up, money will pour in. And im sure thats going to happen this time. Prior to the recent attacks, there had been growing speculation that saudi arabia and israel could sign some kind of peace deal, which would, of course, be a massive economic boost to the region. So far, the Saudi Crown Prince mohammed bin salman� s, been trying to calm the conflict. Hes also emphasized the kingdoms support for what he described as a just peace that ensured the rights of palestinians. Is there a point whereby if Israel Inflicts too much damage in trying to eliminate hamas, that it could jeopardize a deal like that . Look, i think that again, israel is is being careful and is going to be increasingly careful to make sure that the palestinians are as unaffected as possible in this and that we literally just deal with the hamas, you know, evil that has afflicted us. And on the other hand, theres no guarantee that that, you know, can happen. Its not, you know, impossible that there will be mistakes made or people too many civilians hurt. And so therefore, there will be, you know, a correlation between how that plays out and, you know, how quickly we can recover and get back on the on the process of building these ties. I am very optimistic that we will resume, if not already, going on at the moment, discussions with the saudis. Joe medved, thank you very much. My pleasure. Well, while its important to remember that thousands have died and the death toll continues to rise in both israel and gaza, we wanted to get a better understanding of the Abraham Accords and how business and trade was key to their success and the hope that they could offer. So ive been speaking to one of their main architects, a man who was one of president trumps senior advisors on the middle east and is now at the Heritage Foundation think tank in washington. Rob greenway, thank you forjoining us. Its been three years now since the Abraham Accords were first signed. What would you say theyve achieved up until now in terms of business and trade that simply wasnt there beforehand . Look, the agreements were recognized as historic, the first Peace Agreements between israel and its look, the agreements were recognized as historic, the first Peace Agreements between israel and its neighbors in a generation. In terms of business, i think weve seen probably the most progress. In some ways you would expect it. In other ways, i think its been surprising and encouraging. So, for example, in 2019, the overall value of trade between israel and the accord member countries after concluding the agreements was about 500 million and in 2022 it climbed to 3. 7 billion. In this year, despite ongoing events, we expect it to rise, which is a significant volume. And many of the abraham accord countries are now in the top ten of israels trading partners, which is saying a lot in regional integration in terms of israel and its neighbors, i think holds tremendous economic progress. And we forecasted previously when i worked at the Abraham Accords peace institute, the value and bilateral relationships could exceed 24 billion, and thats the goal. Those business and trade ties have clearly been positive, but what further benefits would you say have been built on top of them . Well, i think theres also been a tremendous amount of movement of individuals between countries that previously really had minimal, in some cases, no travel or transit or contact between the populations. Some 470,000 Israelis Travel To Abraham Accord member countries last year. And again, we expect that number to increase year over year. Did you at the time or indeed do you now foresee any potential to apply the same principles to find a lasting peace between israel and the palestinians . Well, the judgment was always that we should pursue progress between israel and its neighbors, regardless of whether or not we could overcome the tremendous difficulties that exist between the israelis and the palestinians from a political level. And that was the appetite really among the countries in the regions with whom we had many conversations. Ultimately, i do think expansion is absolutely probable. But when it comes to stronger trade ties between israel and the palestinians at the time, did you see that as having potential . We absolutely did. All of the countries thatjoined the accord peace between the israelis and the palestinians. And in fact, because of the work done in the peace to prosperity plan, a lot of those ideas and initiatives were designed to be implemented by the Abraham Accords member countries. And you may recall in the weeks after the accords were concluded, we established an abraham fund. Resources from accord member countries and those made by the United States from the Development Finance corporation, the export import bank, designed specifically to aid palestinian infrastructure projects. An example of that is improving the personnel checkpoints between the territories so that workers could move freely across the border. And my hope is i think everyones hope is that that will commence regardless of the present difficulties that that ultimately that promise and that potential is still there. Up until recently, israel allowed around 18,000 people to cross from gaza into israel every day to work. That brought around 2 million a day into gaza. Just explain how important a source of cash thats been to the economy there. Well, i think it obviously wasnt important enough for them to protect it because what happened and what transpired, the horrific attack by terrorists and hamas sponsored by their corporate Ownership Back in tehran ultimately put that not only in jeopardy, but may prevent it from happening in the nearfuture at all. And its incredibly unfortunate because the longest suffering people here under hamas rule in gaza will continue to suffer so long as the individual is in hamas. The terrorists and hamas view their aims and objectives to exterminate israel are more important than the benefits derive for their own people. The outrage in the west has been unprecedented. But even among the signatories of the Abraham Accords has been somewhat muted. Do you think thats the case of trying to preserve trade links without alienating other arab countries . So it is an interesting phenomenon. And in myjudgment, the explanation is really in the United States approach to this, all of the countries in the region will tell you, as theyve told me, that they cant be more pro israel than the United States. And if theres hesitation on the part of the United States commitment to israel, then their hesitation will mirror that. And also, if the United States is not willing to protect its interests and safeguard its interests and its partners and allies in the region, then they wont be able to take the risks, the risks that resulted in the Abraham Accords, but that proved beneficial. And so, in myjudgment, so long as the United States hesitates in pursuing a relationship with our partners and allies in the region, chiefly israel, and confronts our adversaries like iran, hamas and the other Terrorist Surrogates and proxies in the region, then were going to see hesitance on the part of the accord, member countries and prospective members, but its not permanent and its not their native disposition. And so i suspect that well be able to reverse course. I hope we do. Are you concerned that some countries might try to pull out of the accords, perhaps if they think israel has gone too far in its response to the attacks . So i think the possibility is there. And again, my hope is that the United States will ensure that the conflict doesnt escalate. I think thats our primary responsibility, and i think its in our primary interest. And my hope is that well be able to do it. And if we do, the accords will certainly endure and i think as a result of it will encourage others to join. The next big thing thats been talked about is an israel saudi deal. Just a few weeks ago, the Saudi Crown Prince said it was getting closer each day. Do you think thats now been kicked into the long grass . Again, it is largely reflective of how the us approaches the region. If we support our partners and allies, i think it gives them the space and it gives them the incentive to normalize diplomatic relations with israel as our principal partner and our strategic ally in the region. And as long as we are hesitant and as long as the Us AdministrationAppeases Tehran and provides the resources to threaten not only israel but saudi arabia and other countries, then theres going to be tremendous reluctance in order to join. Ultimately, i think well see normalization. Its