A 'DONROE' APPROACH TO THE MIDDLE EAST

The ‘Donroe Doctrine’ and the Abraham Accords: Reclaiming sacred neighborhoods

This new approach means identifying and removing non-hemispheric competitors that seek to own strategically vital assets or export instability. 

 

By Rabbi Mordechai Ben Avraham 

 

JNS

Jan 11, 2026 

Kazakhstan was the fifth country to join the Abraham Accords after the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. 

 

In the landscape of 2026, the world is witnessing a historic realignment, a return to the fundamental truth that a nation’s strength begins with the integrity of its own neighborhood. As an Orthodox rabbi, I have long taught that the concept of the gevul (“boundary”) is a prerequisite for peace. Without a fence, there is no garden; without a border, there is no home.

This ancient wisdom has found a modern, bold expression in the recent words of U.S. President Donald Trump. Revitalizing a centuries-old pillar of American sovereignty, the president stated: “The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal. But we’ve superseded it by a lot. … They now call it the ‘Donroe Doctrine.’ Under our new strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

To some, this is merely a statement of geopolitical muscle. From a spiritual perspective, however, the “Donroe Doctrine” represents something much deeper: the restoration of regional stewardship. It is the “Trump corollary” to the idea that every family of nations has a moral obligation to protect its own house from the insidious wiles of distant, hostile powers.

This principle of regional ownership is exactly what breathed life into the Abraham Accords. For too long, the Middle East was treated as a chessboard for distant globalist powers that had no skin in the game. The accords changed the paradigm by asserting a Middle Eastern version of the Monroe Doctrine.

When the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Israel came together, they essentially declared their own “Donroe” moment. They signaled that the destiny of the region would be decided by those who share its soil and its spiritual heritage, not by the dictates of the Old World or the radical regime in Tehran.

Just as Trump has reasserted that neither foreign nations nor globalist institutions will control the Western Hemisphere, the accords allow the children of Abraham to control their own destiny in the East.

His declaration, “We don’t forget about it anymore,” regarding the Monroe Doctrine is a call to vigilance.

In the Torah, we are commanded to be shomrim (“guardians”). This guardianship is already yielding massive economic fruit. As of 2026, Israeli high-tech, which now accounts for nearly 60% of total exports, is projected to expand by 5.0% this year alone, driven largely by the technological covenant with our neighbors.

A “Donroe” approach to the Middle East means identifying and removing non-hemispheric competitors that seek to own strategically vital assets or export instability. We see this in the surge of private funding from the Gulf into Israeli startups, which reached more than $185 million in 2025, a fivefold increase from the previous year.

This is not just commerce; it is the construction of a regional wall. By choosing to invest in one another, the Abraham Accords nations are dismantling the influence of those who wish to export chaos and terror to our shores.

Critics often fear that a resurgence of the Monroe Doctrine implies isolation. On the contrary, it is the highest form of engagement. You cannot be a “Light unto the Nations” if your own home is in chaos. By securing the Americas and dismantling hostile networks at home, the United States gains the moral authority and the strategic bandwidth to support its allies in the Middle East.

The “Donroe Doctrine” is about creating a world of separate spheres of stability. It recognizes that when the United States is preeminent in the Western Hemisphere, it creates a foundation of security that allows diplomacy and economy to flourish without the constant threat of foreign subversion.

The president was right: The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal. Yet we have indeed superseded it, moving from a defensive posture to a proactive restoration of order. As we protect our sacred neighborhood in the West, we empower our brothers in the East to do the same.

May we continue to see a world where every nation sits secure within its borders, where the “watchmen on the walls” are alert, and where the light of the Abraham Accords shines brightly from a hemisphere that is, once again, firmly in the hands of those who cherish freedom.