Connect with us

RSS

Exclusive-UAE Plans to Maintain Ties with Israel Despite Gaza Outcry, Sources Say

Flags of United Arab Emirates and Israel flutter during Israel’s National Day ceremony at Expo 2020 Dubai, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 31, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Christopher Pike

The United Arab Emirates plans to maintain diplomatic ties with Israel despite international outcry over the mounting toll of the war in Gaza and hopes to have some moderating influence over the Israeli campaign while safeguarding its own interests, according to four sources familiar with UAE government policy.

Abu Dhabi became the most prominent Arab nation to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in 30 years under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. That paved the way for other Arab states to forge their own ties with Israel by breaking a taboo on normalizing relations without the creation of a Palestinian state.

The mounting death toll from Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip – launched in retaliation for cross-border attacks on Oct. 7 by the Hamas militant group that governs the enclave – have stirred outrage in Arab capitals.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke last month with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. UAE officials have publicly condemned Israel’s actions and repeatedly called for an end to the violence.

In response to a request for comment for this story, an Emirati official said the UAE’s immediate priority was to secure a ceasefire and to open up humanitarian corridors.

The Gulf Arab power, backed by its oil wealth, wields significant influence in regional affairs. It also serves as a security partner of the United States, hosting American forces.

As well as speaking to Israel, the UAE has worked to moderate public positions taken by Arab states so that once the war ends there is the possibility of a return to a broad dialogue, said the four sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Sheikh Mohamed met in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, amid Qatari-brokered talks for the release of a limited number of hostages in return for a break in the fighting.

“The UAE and Qatar stand firm in urging the need to advance de-escalation efforts and secure a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the region,” Sheikh Mohamed said on social media after their discussions.

Despite closer economic and security ties with Israel forged over the past three years, Abu Dhabi has had little apparent success in reining in the Gaza offensive, which has led to the death of more than 11,000 people, according to Palestinian officials. Hamas killed around 1,200 people in its surprise attack on Israel and some 240 hostages were taken, Israeli authorities have said.

Amid the impasse, the UAE has grown increasingly frustrated with its most important security partner Washington, which it believes is not exerting enough pressure to end the war, the four sources said.

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said this week that Washington needed to end the conflict swiftly and initiate a process to resolve the decades old Israeli-Palestinian issue by addressing refugees, borders and East Jerusalem.

The UAE has publicly expressed concern that the war now risks igniting regional tensions and a new wave of extremism in the Middle East.

Speaking on Oct. 18 at the UN Security Council, where the UAE holds a rotating seat, ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said that Abu Dhabi had sought via the Abraham Accords with Israel and the United States to deliver prosperity and security in a new Middle East through cooperation and peaceful co-existence.

“The indiscriminate damage visited upon the people of Gaza in pursuit of Israel’s security risks extinguishing that hope,” she said.

A senior European official told Reuters that Arab states had recognized now that it was not possible to build ties with Israel without addressing the Palestinian issue. Israel’s foreign ministry declined to comment for this story.

NO BREAK IN TIES

The UAE continues to host an Israeli ambassador and there was no prospect of an end to diplomatic ties, which represented a longer-term strategic priority by Abu Dhabi, the sources said.

The accord was motivated, in part, by shared concerns over the threat posed by Iran, as well as a broader economic-driven realignment of Abu Dhabi’s foreign policy. The UAE sees Iran as a threat to regional security, although in recent years it has taken diplomatic steps to de-escalate tensions.

Israel and the UAE have developed close economic and security ties in the three years since normalization, including defense cooperation. Israel supplied the UAE with air defense systems after missile and drone attacks on Abu Dhabi in early 2022 by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen.

Bilateral trade has exceeded $6 billion since 2020, according to Israeli government data. Israeli tourists have thronged hotels, beaches and shopping centers in the UAE, which is an OPEC oil power and a regional business hub.

“They (UAE) have gains that they don’t want to lose,” said one of the sources, a senior diplomat based in the Middle East.

Even prior to the Oct. 7 attack, however, Abu Dhabi was concerned by the failure of Israel’s right-wing government to curb expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and repeated visits by right-wing religious Israelis to the compound that houses the Al Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. The compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, has long been a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

None of four sources ruled out that the UAE could downgrade or sever its ties if the crisis escalated.

Sources said that the displacement of the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank into Egypt or Jordan was a red line for Abu Dhabi.

James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore, said the war in Gaza had discredited the notion that economic cooperation on its own could build a stable region. “The new Middle East was being built on very fragile ground,” he told Reuters.

DISTANCED FROM HAMAS

Israel has rejected international calls for an immediate ceasefire: Netanyahu has said there would be no halt to its attack until hostages are returned. His government has pledged to destroy Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

While criticizing Israel’s conduct of the war, Abu Dhabi has also condemned Hamas for its attack. The UAE sees the Palestinian militant group and other Islamists as a threat to the stability of the Middle East and beyond.

“Hamas is not their favorite organization,” said one of the sources. “It is Muslim Brotherhood after all.”

The UAE has led the charge against Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest Islamist organization in the Arab World.

It helped Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi topple Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in a military takeover in 2013 that followed mass protests against his rule. The UAE provided Egypt with billions of dollars in support following Mursi’s ouster.

Abu Dhabi also abandoned Sudan’s former Islamist president Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019, ultimately leading to the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip on power there after it had dominated Sudanese politics for decades. The UAE had previously pumped billions of dollars into Sudan’s coffers.

The post Exclusive-UAE Plans to Maintain Ties with Israel Despite Gaza Outcry, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

RSS

Syrian Leader al-Sharaa Holds Talks With Erdogan on Surprise Istanbul Visit

Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, met during al-Sharaa’s first diplomatic trip since the fall of the al-Assad regime. Photo: Screenshot

i24 NewsTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding talks with Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday, local media reported. No further details were available.

This comes one day after the US administration of President Donald Trump issued orders that it said would effectively lift sanctions on Syria in order to help the country rebuild after a devastating civil war.

The Treasury Department issued a general license that authorizes transactions involving the interim Syrian government led by Al-Sharaa, as well as the central bank and state-owned enterprises.

The general license, known as GL25, “authorizes transactions prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, effectively lifting sanctions on Syria,” the Treasury said in a statement.

Syria welcomed the sanctions waiver early on Saturday, which the Foreign Ministry called a “positive step in the right direction to alleviate the country’s humanitarian and economic suffering.”

Syria is keen on cooperating with other countries “on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs. It believes that dialogue and diplomacy are the best path to building balanced relations,” the ministry said in a statement.

The post Syrian Leader al-Sharaa Holds Talks With Erdogan on Surprise Istanbul Visit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

‘It Was Just An Accident’ by Iran’s Jafar Panahi Wins Cannes’ Top Prize

Director Jafar Panahi, Palme d’Or award winner for the film “Un simple accident” (It Was Just an Accident), reacts, during the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Revenge thriller “It Was Just An Accident” by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was last at the Cannes Film Festival in person more than 20 years ago, won the Palme d’Or top prize on Saturday.

Panahi, who has been arrested several times for his filmmaking and was under a travel ban until recently, last attended the festival in person in 2003, when “Crimson Gold” was screened in the Un Certain Regard category.

“Art mobilizes the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life,” said jury president Juliette Binoche when announcing the award.

“It Was Just An Accident” follows Vahid, played by Vahid Mobasseri, who kidnaps a man with a false leg who looks just like the one who tortured him in prison and ruined his life.

Vahid sets out to verify with other prison survivors that it is indeed their torturer – and then decide what to do with him.

An emotional Panahi, wearing sunglasses on stage, thanked his cast and film crew during his acceptance speech.

The Grand Prix, the second-highest prize after the Palme d’Or, was awarded to “Sentimental Value” from acclaimed director Joachim Trier.

The jury prize was split between the intergenerational family drama “Sound of Falling” from German director Mascha Schilinski and “Sirat,” about a father and son who head into the Moroccan desert, by French-Spanish director Oliver Laxe.

Brazil’s “The Secret Agent” won two awards, one for best actor for Wagner Moura, as well as best director for Kleber Mendonca Filho.

“I was having Champagne,” said Mendonca Filho after he ran up to the stage to collect his award after celebrating Moura, who previously made a name for himself in hit TV series “Narcos.”

Newcomer Nadia Melliti took home best actress for “The Little Sister,” a queer coming-of-age story centered around the daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris.

Belgium’s Dardenne brothers, who have the rare honor of already having won two Palme d’Or prizes, took home the award for best screenplay for their film “Young Mothers.”

Twenty-two films in total were competing for the prize at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, with entries from well-known directors Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson and Ari Aster.

Saturday’s closing ceremony officially ends the glamour-filled festival that began on May 13.

The post ‘It Was Just An Accident’ by Iran’s Jafar Panahi Wins Cannes’ Top Prize first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin From Revoking Harvard Enrollment of Foreign Students

US President Trump speaks to the media at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

A US judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, a policy the Ivy League school called part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence.”

The order provides temporary relief to thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university called a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws, and said would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.

“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school said in its lawsuit filed earlier on Friday in Boston federal court. Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, equal to 27% of total enrollment.

The move was the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House, as Trump seeks to compel universities, law firms, news media, courts and other institutions that value independence from partisan politics to align with his agenda. Trump and fellow Republicans have long accused elite universities of left-wing bias.

Harvard has pushed back hard against Trump, having previously sued to restore nearly $3 billion in federal grants that had been frozen or canceled. In recent weeks, the administration has proposed ending Harvard’s tax-exempt status and hiking taxes on its endowment, and opened an investigation into whether it violated civil rights laws.

Leo Gerden, a Swedish student set to graduate Harvard with an undergraduate degree in economics and government this month, called the judge’s ruling a “great first step” but said international students were bracing for a long legal fight that would keep them in limbo.

“There is no single decision by Trump or by Harvard or by a judge that is going to put an end to this tyranny of what Trump is doing,” Gerden said.

In its complaint, Harvard said the revocation would force it to retract admissions for thousands of people, and has thrown “countless” academic programs, clinics, courses and research laboratories into disarray, just a few days before graduation. It said the revocation was a punishment for Harvard’s “perceived viewpoint,” which it called a violation of the right to free speech as guaranteed by the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

The Trump administration may appeal US District Judge Allison Burroughs’ ruling. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy.”

Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, his administration has accused several universities of indifference toward the welfare of Jewish students during widespread campus protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Harvard’s court challenges over the administration’s policies stand in contrast to its New York-based peer Columbia University’s concessions to similar pressure. Columbia agreed to reform disciplinary processes and review curricula for courses on the Middle East, after Trump pulled $400 million in funding over allegations the Ivy League school had not done enough to combat antisemitism.

In announcing on Thursday the termination of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, effective starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Harvard says a fifth of its foreign students in 2024 were from China. US lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns about the influence of the Chinese government on US college campuses, including efforts by Beijing-directed Chinese student associations to monitor political activities and stifle academic speech.

The university says it is committed to combating antisemitism and investigating credible allegations of civil rights violations.

HARVARD DEFENDS ‘REFUSAL TO SURRENDER’

In her brief order blocking the policy for two weeks, Burroughs said Harvard had shown it could be harmed before there was an opportunity to hear the case in full. The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, scheduled hearings for May 27 and May 29 to consider next steps in the case. Burroughs is also overseeing Harvard’s lawsuit over the grant funds.

Harvard University President Alan Garber said the administration was illegally seeking to assert control over the private university’s curriculum, faculty and student body.

“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence,” Garber wrote in a letter on Friday to the Harvard community.

The revocation could also weigh on Harvard’s finances. At many US universities, international students are more likely to pay full tuition, essentially subsidizing aid for other students.

“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Harvard’s bonds, part of its $8.2 billion debt pile, have been falling since Trump first warned US universities in March of cuts to federal funding.

International students enrolled at Harvard include Cleo Carney, daughter of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Princess Elisabeth, first in line to the Belgian throne.

The post Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin From Revoking Harvard Enrollment of Foreign Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News