In recent years, some western governments and their Arab allies had begun calculating that the Palestinian cause had ceased to matter for the region. This formed the basis for the notion that Arab normalization with Israel, without a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, would bring regional peace and security. But as the violence in Gaza—and the threat of a regional conflagration—painfully illustrate, there are deep flaws in that assessment.

In particular, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which normalized relations with Israel through the 2020 Abraham Accords, is in a difficult position as the death toll from the events this month rises. The Hamas movement’s unprecedented attack on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, which left more than 1,400 Israelis dead and hundreds of people taken hostage, truly shocked Emirati officials. The more than 8,000 Palestinians which have been reportedly killed in the...