Arab leaders meet in the Algerian capital on Tuesday for their first summit in a series of normalization deals with Israel that have divided the region.

Since the last Arab League summit in 2019, several members of the 22-strong bloc — for decades a forum for vocal expressions of support for the Palestinian cause — have normalized ties with the Jewish state.

The United Arab Emirates went first in a historic US-brokered deal that made the country the third Arab state, after Egypt and Jordan, to forge full ties with Israel.

The UAE’s move sparked similar deals with Bahrain and Morocco – and an interim deal with Sudan – and deepened Morocco’s decades-long rivalry with its neighbor Algeria.

The host of Tuesday and Wednesday’s summit remains a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, even brokering a reconciliation deal between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas in October.

Though few believe this deal will last, it has been seen as a public relations coup for Algeria, which is keen to gain more regional influence given its rising status as a gas exporter.

This week’s summit will offer President Abdelmadjid Tebboune another opportunity to do just that.

He has rolled out the red carpet for his guests, whom he will host to a lavish opening dinner at 18:00 (1700 GMT) on Tuesday.

The main streets of Algiers were adorned with Arab flags and huge billboards welcoming the “Brothers of the Arabs”.

“Algerian foreign policy has gone on the offensive at the regional, African and Arab levels,” said Geneva-based expert Hasni Abidi.

But Algeria is also unsettled by Morocco’s security and defense cooperation with Israel, adding to decades of distrust fueled by a dispute over Western Sahara.

The status of Western Sahara — a former Spanish colony considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the United Nations — has pitted Morocco against the Algerian-backed Polisario Front since the 1970s.

In August 2021, Algiers severed diplomatic ties with Rabat amid allegations of “hostile actions”.

Summit participants face the challenge of formulating a final resolution that must be adopted unanimously.

With conflicts in Syria, Libya and Yemen also on the agenda, sources say foreign ministers are trying to reach a consensus on how to formulate Turkish and Iranian “interference” in the region – and whether or not to mention Ankara and Tehran by name.

“The paradox of this summit is that it is billed as a unifying event, while each Arab state actually has its own agenda and goals that suit its interests,” Abidi said.

“Ultimately, the Arab League is the perfect mirror of Arab foreign policy.”

This point is underscored by the absence of several key figures, most notably Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who is reportedly suffering from an ear infection, and Moroccan King Mohammed VI.

According to Arab media, the heads of state and government of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will also stay away.

“The Arab states that have normalized with Israel are not enthusiastic about the idea of ??coming together to condemn their position,” Abidi said.

“They were not reassured by Tebboune’s move to focus on the Palestinian issue,” he said.

Another source of controversy has been Algeria’s efforts to bring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime back into the Arab League, a decade after its membership was suspended over a crackdown on the 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests.

Abidi said inviting Syria to the summit would have been “highly risky”.

“Algeria has recognized the consequences of such a presence at the summit. Along with Damascus, it has abandoned its initiative,” he said.

Pierre Boussel of France’s Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) said Syria’s return to the league was backed by Russia, an ally of both Algiers and Damascus.

But, he said, “Russia has decided not to try to enforce this in a way that would have damaged its relations with Arab countries, which have already been severely scalded by the economic fallout from the Ukraine conflict.”

Commodity importers, notably Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan, have been hit particularly hard by rising prices, even as the coffers of energy-producing Arab states are swelling.

Boussel said the “shockwave” from the Ukraine war, which disrupted important grain imports for the region from the Black Sea, was being felt in Algiers.

“Faced with grain shortages, rising inflation and concerns about new energy routes, the Arab League must show it is capable of cohesion and interstate solidarity, which it has lacked since the crisis began,” he said.

Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Friday called for an “integrated Arab vision” to address pressing food security challenges.