Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s visit to the UAE this week was an important historic visit to strengthen the normalization agreement and strengthen economic ties between the two countries. It is likely that the secret part of the visit dealt with the United Arab Emirates’ rapprochement with Iran. Israel is concerned: This is a bad development that harms the course that Israel has tried to promote and that is the establishment of a regional military alliance against Iran.
This week, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett paid a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates, the first public and official visit of the Israeli Prime Minister, which is a historic visit to a country that was the first to sign a normalization agreement with Israel over a year ago.
Bennett’s bureau issued an official statement saying most of the visit focused on “personal acquaintance between the two leaders. Bennett and the regent, Muhammad bin Zayed, spoke openly and stressed their desire to promote peace between the two countries and build economic relations.”
The announcement also stated that the regent accepted Bennett’s invitation to visit Israel, but did not specify when the visit would take place. The UAE media ignored this issue and did not confirm that the visit would indeed take place.
The UAE preferred to emphasize in a statement issued the importance of strengthening economic and trade relations with Israel through a joint research and development fund and “find solutions to challenges such as climate change as well as clean energy and future agriculture.”
No word on the great danger in the region posed by Iran.
It is very likely that this issue will be discussed in a four-way meeting between Bennett and Ben Zayed. Israel is very concerned about the rapprochement between the United Arab Emirates and Iran. Sheikh Tahanun Ben Zayed, the UAE’s national security adviser and brother of the regent who was the architect of the normalization agreement with Israel, recently visited Tehran. He met with the new Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi who did not hesitate to slander Israel and Zionism and warned him against normalization with Israel.
The UAE’s national security adviser and the regent’s brother recently visited Tehran. He met with the new president of Iran, who did not hesitate to slander Israel and Zionism and warned him against normalization with Israel.
However, the UAE is pursuing an independent policy. Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed is known as one of the smart Arab leaders who excels in safeguarding the interests of his country and knows how to skip without any controversy and reconcile with his rivals. Only recently did he travel to Turkey for a reconciliation meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The UAE has a common border with Iran and also a dispute over sovereignty over three islands that Iran has taken over by force. The UAE also in the range of Iranian missiles and the country understands well the significance of a regional war with Iran.
Commentators in the Gulf claim that Crown Prince Ben-Zayed explained to Prime Minister Bennett that the rapprochement between his country and Iran is not at the expense of the UAE’s relations with Israel. In any case, security cooperation between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on a variety of sensitive issues will continue and even be tightened, according to senior security officials in Israel.
Said Khatib Zada, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, referred to Bennett’s visit to the United Arab Emirates and warned on December 13 against any move that would give the “fabricated and subversive Zionist entity” a foothold in the region. “Such visits undermine security in the region and run counter to the interests of the Islamic Nation, the peoples of the region and Arab countries,” Zada said, according to a report by the Iranian Fars news agency.
Bennett’s visit took place while in Vienna representatives of the powers are struggling to bring Iran back to the 2015 nuclear deal. This issue was also discussed at a meeting between the prime minister and the regent. Both sides make sure that there is no official reference or even leakage on their conversation on the subject because of its sensitivity, especially for the regent.
The political echelon in Israel is not afraid that the United Arab Emirates will abandon the process of normalization with Israel. The decision of the UAE to enter into an agreement with Israel was “brave and strategic,” a senior political source told me. However, the rapprochement between the United Arab Emirates and Iran is certainly a bad development for Israel.
The political echelon in Israel is not afraid that the United Arab Emirates will abandon the process of normalization with Israel. The decision of the UAE to enter into an agreement with Israel was “brave and strategic”, a senior political figure told me
The military alliance’s dream against Iran is fading
Until the change of government in the United States, Iran was under great pressure from the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which gave Israel an official seal of approval for a military alliance with the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states against it.
This was one of the main principles of the normalization process during the Trump administration.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on September 6, 2020 that his dialogue with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Crown Prince Ben Zayed and President Donald Trump dealt with the “historic moment” between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and the two sides’ agreement on a defense alliance with Iran On the American Territories and the Middle East.
The former US Secretary of State’s remarks show that in terms of former President Trump’s administration, the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was in fact a political-military alliance against Iran aimed at protecting the United States – a different essence from other peace agreements signed by Israel with Egypt and Jordan.
No wonder the Iranians were under pressure. An Iranian report published on September 5, 2020 on the Iranian website Jada Iran warned of the danger of the undeclared goals of the UAE-Israel agreement and the possibility that Israel would gain a foothold in the Gulf, which would directly threaten Iran’s security. The report estimated that the agreement could lead to the establishment of an Israeli military base within the United Arab Emirates that would be directed against Iran.
An Iranian report warned of the danger of the undeclared targets of the agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel and the possibility that Israel would gain a foothold in the Gulf, which would directly threaten Iran’s security
According to the report’s authors, Israel chose the United Arab Emirates because of its proximity to Iran’s strategic facilities, such as its oil fields, ports and nuclear reactors. Iran will be forced, the report said, to take counter-military measures and Tehran will form new alliances to deal with Israeli influence in the Gulf.
Sources in the Gulf say Iran fears that Israel will build intelligence bases on the island of Socotra south of Yemen, which is controlled by the United Arab Emirates, which will allow it to monitor Iranian movements from the Persian Gulf through Egypt to Bab al-Mandab to African countries.
Hussein Amir ‘Abd al-Lahian, the current Iranian foreign minister, who then served as deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament for international affairs, announced on September 6, 2020 that Following the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, any Israeli attack on Iran will result in the United Arab Emirates being in Iran’s response circle.
In an interview with the Iranian channel Al-Alam, ‘Abd al-Lahian said:
“What considerations for cooperation with the Zionist entity faced the United Arab Emirates? After all, it endangers its security first and foremost because where the Zionists have set foot, they thereby endanger the security of the Persian Gulf.
“Another thing, they endanger the security of energy transfer in the region and they endanger the security of their neighbors including Iran.
“Anything that happens, overtly or covertly by Israeli intelligence, or its agents in Iran or the region, the response that will reach will be directed not only to the Zionist entity but also towards the United Arab Emirates.
“Netanyahu is humiliating the United Arab Emirates and treating it as a Zionist settlement. This is the humiliation that Muhammad bin Zayed brought to the region. We are very sorry about that and hope that the rationalists in the United Arab Emirates will be removed from this wrong path.”
Iran has acted to warn the United Arab Emirates of the consequences of the normalization agreement with Israel. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatib Zada said at the time that Iran had transparently explained to the UAE through various channels that it would not compromise on its national security.
He called on the United Arab Emirates to reconsider the agreement with Israel and said:
“Israel can not guarantee its security, how will it ensure the security of the UAE? The UAE must correct the strategic mistake it made, it cannot buy security outside the region.”
Saudi Arabia first fold
Who was supposed to lead the Arab-Israeli alliance against Iran was Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the “powerful man” in the kingdom who was to become the next king of Saudi Arabia and lead a hawkish line against Iran. But now everything has changed.
Following the change of administration in the United States and the entry of President Joe Biden into the White House, the Gulf states understand that The US president is not interested in a war with Iran and wants a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue – so the idea of an Israeli-Arab military alliance against Iran should be avoided..
The Saudis were the first to fold. They preceded the secret talks with Iran, mediated by Iraq, already a few months ago and are conducting secret negotiations with it for “alignment.”
The Saudis were the first to fold. They have been ahead of secret talks with Iran, mediated by Iraq, for several months now and are in secret talks with it to “align”.
Contacts continued in Jordan this week as well. The official news agency “Petra” reported on December 13 that Saudi and Iranian experts had ended a security dialogue in the capital, Amman. The secretary general of the Arab Institute for Security Studies, Dr. Ayman Khalil, said that at the meeting there was an atmosphere of mutual respect which showed a mutual desire on both sides to develop relations.
According to Gulf officials, the Iranian danger was a crucial consideration in the head of Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayd when he made the decision to sign a normalization agreement with Israel. He was confronted by Israel’s military and technological capabilities and its security ties with the United States, which could significantly strengthen its security network in the face of Iranian expansion in the region. Added to this was the possibility that the United Arab Emirates would receive the F35 aircraft.
All of this pushed the regent to a brave step of declaring an open normalization agreement with Israel. It crossed the Rubicon, contrary to the decisions of the Arab League and the Arab Peace Initiative, in the correct view that the danger to the United Arab Emirates on the part of Iran is real and its immediate confrontation is more important than the Palestinian problem.
Meanwhile, the UAE announced yesterday (Tuesday) the suspension of negotiations with the US regarding the acquisition of the F35, after talks ran into difficulties amid fears of rapprochement between the UAE and China.
Meanwhile, the UAE announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it is suspending negotiations with the US regarding the purchase of the F35, after talks ran into difficulties amid fears of rapprochement between the UAE and China
Abu Dhabi claims that US demands are undermining its sovereignty, the US claims that talks will continue this week and that these are means of pressure in negotiations, but we need to wait and see how this will affect the UAE’s relations with Israel.
However, the Middle East is an area of upheaval and things are changing rapidly. Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed has adapted very quickly to the new reality that has been created, and Israel will also have to adapt to the new situation.