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The UAE has maintained ties with Israel during the Gaza war, but that relationship, based on a U. S. -brokered deal, is under strain as anger against Israel grows.
By Vivian Neréim
Vivian Nereim reported this article from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Just a few years ago, many in the UAE were keen to speak warmly about their country’s burgeoning ties with Israel.
Israel had just established relations with the Emirates through a US-brokered settlement. Business teams had been formed to channel investments across the country. Two women, one Emirati and one Israeli, posed for a photograph holding hands in the most sensible part of a skyscraper in Dubai. U. S. , Emirati and Israeli officials predicted that their agreement, called the Abraham Accords, would spread peace in the Middle East.
But now, as months of Israeli bombardment of Gaza fuel anger in the region, it’s hard to find Emirati supporters of the deal.
An Emirati businessman who once touted economic ties said he had left an Emirati-Israeli business council and had nothing more to say. Some Emiratis, though frustrated by the deals, said they were afraid to speak out, bringing up their authoritarian rule’s habit of silencing criticism. One prominent figure who spoke, the deputy chief of Dubai police, said online that Arabs “really need peace” and that Israel had “proven its intentions wrong. “
According to analysts, neither the Emirates nor Israel will give up on the deal: it remains a diplomatic lifeline for Israel as its ties with other Arab countries deteriorate, and it has earned the UAE billions in terms of industry and positive PR in Western countries. But the current trajectory of the war bodes well for agreements or security in the Middle East, said Mohammed Baharoon, director of B’huth, a Dubai think tank.
“It’s a partnership,” he said, “and if one of the partners doesn’t pay their dues, then it’s no longer a partnership. “
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