“Dennis Ross, who served as a senior official on Middle East issues for Democratic and Republican administrations, said that headway on Israeli-Palestinian issues could facilitate normalization and vice versa.
“‘Many Arab states won’t make one big move to normalize with Israel but will proceed in stages,’ Mr. Ross said. ‘When they do, they are likely to ask Israel to take a step toward the Palestinians at the same time. In that way, normalization can be a bridge to get to Israeli-Palestinian issues…'”