In the form of a theory testing case study based upon the seminal works of Kenneth Waltz and Stephen Walt, this thesis seeks to uncover whether defensive realism can be applied with focus on Israeli international conduct. This is defined by their wartime actions as well as their peacekeeping efforts. The paper analyses two major historical events; namely the six-day-war and the recent Israeli-Arab peace treaties. Thereafter it delves into the preexisting conditions of each combattant in the war, then reviews the events unfolding during the conflict in the first part of the analysis, followed by the second part examining the contents of the Abraham Accords, as well as the official statements of Bahrain and Sudan regarding peace with Israel.  Following this, the thesis examines the details and terms of the Abraham Accords and treaties between Israel, Bahrain and Sudan. A hypothesis is presented predicting that both tenets of defensive realism will be applicable to their respective parts of Israeli history. It is subsequently found that the first tenet of defensive realism has explanatory value with regards to the six-day-war, the second tenet of defensive realism that follows also proves to hold significant merit, and the thesis concludes that the given hypothesis therefore is correct. Both tenets of defensive realism are applicable to respective units of analysis on Israel, which therefore suggests that the theory of defensive realism offers a good framework for explaining the actions of the Israeli state.

The Water Energy Nexus or WEN is an understanding between Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) whereby Israel will provide Jordan with desalinated water in return for Jordan providing Israel with renewable energy (RE). The UAE will finance the new RE projects in Jordan earmarked for this task. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the three countries was signed in December of 2021. This idea was hatched by the NGO EcoPeace and under the framework of the Abraham Accords signed in 2020 between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain and the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994. Yet even this ambition is modest in comparison to the visions of EcoPeace, where in the longer term they would like to see the EU as the model to aspire to, using green technology as the founding pillar to drive trade, expand renewable energy, export water and water usage models and create a bedrock of expanding peace. This thesis will attempt to ascertain how credible these dreams are by delving into the histories of each of these three countries regarding diplomacy, environment, green technology, the green transition, land usage, water and narrative. As a starting point, it will evaluate current narratives coming from Israel and the Arab world by looking at articles mentioning the “other countries” in three newspapers, Al Jazeera, Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post. Above all the background of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict looms large in many of these questions.