Normalizing Normalization: Emirati and Israeli Newspaper Framing of the Israel–Palestine Conflict Before and After the Abraham Accords

Abstract

This quantitative content analysis examined Emirati and Israeli news framing of Israel–Palestine before and after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel formally signed the September 2020 Abraham Accords, a normalization agreement overseen by the United States. The purpose of the study was twofold. First, it aimed to compare Emirati and Israeli news coverage to determine the extent to which Emirati and Israeli editorial positions either converge with or diverge from one another. Second, the analysis sought to compare pre-and-post normalization Emirati news coverage of the Palestine issue. Findings affirmed the researchers’ expectations that Al-Bayan would be more critical of Israel than Israel Hayom, and that it would frame Israel more negatively than Israel Hayom by including more coverage of Israeli oppression, violence, and aggression against the Palestinians, regardless of time period. Findings also showed that Al-Bayan shifted away from its prenormalization negative framing of Israel and adopted an overt and unequivocal pro-Israel postnormalization frame.