Naftali Bennett visits UAE: What does Israel want from UAE friendship?
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has become the first Israeli leader to visit the United Arab Emirates. Naftali Bennett is trying to improve relations with Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, in the face of growing tensions with Iran.
A year after the resumptions of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi has met with the Israeli Prime Minister.
The Israeli prime minister said he wanted to boost economic and trade ties between the two countries.
He is also expected to urge the UAE to take a tougher line on Iran's nuclear program. The United Arab Emirates, like Israel, has concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but also seeks better relations with Tehran.
Last year, the UAE became the third Arab country to fully recognize Israel after US intervention.
Since then, the two countries have sent ambassadors to each other's countries, and signed trade agreements worth millions of dollars, including agreements on defense equipment and weapons.
Although Naftali Bennett said on his departure from Israel that he would focus on economic and trade relations, the Israeli newspaper Hertz said on the occasion that his meetings would be centered on Iran and the recent meetings between Emirati and Iranian officials.Prime Minister Bennett, upon departure for the UAE, at the invitation of Crown Prince Sheikh @MohamedBinZayed:
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) December 12, 2021
"In just one year since normalizing our relationship, we’ve already seen the extraordinary potential of the Israel-UAE partnership.
This is just the beginning." 🇮🇱🤝🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/wzn0HBWthZ
Last week, the UAE's security adviser and Sheikh Mohammed's brother, Tahnoon bin Zayed, met with Iranian President Ibrahim Rassoul.
Sheikh Tahnoon had said that he hoped that his visit would be a turning point in the relations between the two countries.
In the past, the UAE has taken a tougher line on Iran. Along with Israel, the UAE also backed then-US President Trump's decision in 2018 to pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran.
Under the agreement, economic sanctions against Iran were eased in exchange for limiting its nuclear program.
Since the withdrawal of the United States from the agreement and the complete lifting of sanctions by President Trump, Iran has begun to enrich uranium beyond the agreement.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but is currently enriching uranium to a level close to that required to make a nuclear bomb.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said that in Vienna, where world powers are trying to bring the United States back into the deal, Iran is using nuclear blackmail as a tactic in negotiations. He wants US President Biden to end the talks and take action against Iran, including tougher economic sanctions and possible military strikes.
The UAE has opposed such measures and wants to reduce tensions with Iran.
Why are Israel and Arab countries making friends?
Last year, when the whole world was engulfed in the Corona epidemic, efforts are underway to create a new future in the Middle East. At the time, US President Donald Trump was at the center of that effort.
On September 15, 2020, a high-level Israeli delegation signed a peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The melting of the ice between the enemies of seven decades was unbelievable news to many.
The Bahraini Foreign Minister also attended the signing ceremony. Bahrain later agreed to restore diplomatic relations with Israel.
Since then, some other Gulf states have extended a hand of friendship to Israel. After the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan also established diplomatic relations with Israel.
American weapons are vital to the UAE. The United States has promised to provide the UAE with state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets and EA-18G Growler electronic fighter jets, according to the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen.
The UAE believes that if relations with Israel are strengthened, all these sophisticated weapons can be obtained from the United States. The UAE forces are stationed in the civil war in Libya and Yemen, but its biggest and most powerful enemy is Iran, a Shiite-majority country in the Persian Gulf.
Punk Ranjan Chakraborty, a retired Indian Foreign Service officer who has worked in Cairo, Jeddah, Riyadh and Tel Aviv. Ranjan Chakraborty, an expert on Gulf politics and diplomatic strategy, says the UAE is a determined country under its current ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
So will the initiative in relations with Israel increase the importance of the UAE in the Gulf region?
"Sheikh Zayed is a visionary leader," says Punk Chakraborty. He has announced to invest in Indian-administered Kashmir. But many countries did not like his move. Interestingly, Saudi Arabia also supports the UAE in improving relations with Israel.