Israel Normalization Agreement With UAE ( United Arab Emirates)

Let me get this straight… it has just been announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have signed an agreement to the normalization of diplomatic activities, the first between Israel and a Persian Gulf state, and the third — after Egypt and Jordan — between Israel and an Arab state.

This is good news, of course. Every step taken to tamp down tensions in the Middle East is a welcome development, and it is probably the case that the Trump administration gets proper kudos for their part. And yet…

First of all, the agreement is fairly irrelevant. Israel is a major world military power; according to the Global Firepower rankings, the UAE ranks somewhere between Malaysia and Bangladesh. There wasn’t much that was going to happen between the two countries, other than if the UAE was a small contributor to a much larger Arab contingent. The more likely scenario is that this will result in an increase in already ongoing trade and cultural exchanges, given the UAE’s great wealth, and Israel’s struggling economy.

That said, the larger issue is the question of why now, and why these two countries. It is not lost that the announcement of this normalization comes near the election and favors an administration that has virtually no positive results in four years regarding international affairs. It is also worth noting that Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the de facto head of the UAE, has serious ties to Jared Kushner, and possibly financial ones. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are close allies, often coordinating in their policies and practices.

Israel and the UAE have long had a better than realized relationship. Israel has sold the UAE billions in U.S. air and weapon systems, a sign of some good trust, over many years. There are published reports of the two countries sharing security data, and the sale of significant spyware by Israel to the UAE. In Iran, the two countries have a common enemy, and each considers Iran a primary threat.

In return, the UAE (and their Saudi friends) have been among the most supportive Arab nations for Israel, within the limits of what they can do publicly. The two countries have exchanged some cultural issues (athletes, musicians, etc.) with some regularity.

So, there we have it. Two countries that have been pretty friendly for years agree to be a little more open about their relationship. America, through its deep ties with each (the U.S. also has a military base in the UAE), encourages them to formalize the bromance, without ruffling any other major feathers. The timing is somewhat suspicious, but the event is unremarkable and irrelevant to the greater need for a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.

Nothing big, but in today’s world, a better than usual Thursday afternoon, even if some political gaming was at the core.