FILE PHOTO: Emirati and Israeli flags fly upon the arrival of Israeli and US delegates at Abu Dhabi International Airport, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates August 31, 2020. (Photo credit: REUTERS/Christopher Pike/File Photo)
The UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem al-Hashemy, has summoned the Israeli ambassador, Amir Hayek, over attacks on civilians and incursions into holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On 19 April, according to the Emirati News Agency WAM, Al-Hashemy emphasized the need for an immediate end to the violence, the protection of worshippers, and the end of violations on the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Emirati official said Israel needs “to create an appropriate environment that would allow a return to serious negotiations aimed at achieving a just and comprehensive peace and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.”
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were the first two Gulf countries to normalize relations with Israel in September 2020, with the backing of former US president Donald Trump. Morocco and Sudan normalized relations with Israel soon after.
As a result, weapons exports from the Israeli defense industry were at record highs in 2021. Neighboring Arab countries contributed to this increase in sales by accounting for seven percent of exports.
Bahrain and the UAE accounted for $791 million of the record $11.3 billion in Israeli arms exports.
Arms sales to Arab countries that have normalized relations with Tel Aviv show no signs of diminishing. On 28 March, Israeli media revealed that UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco had expressed an interest in acquiring Israel’s Iron Dome, Green Pine, and Arrow missile defense systems.
The UAE, in particular, seeks such systems in order to protect itself from retaliatory strikes launched by the Yemeni armed forces and Ansarallah resistance movement. Retaliatory strikes by Ansarallah seek to pressure the UAE to end its involvement in the brutal US-backed, Saudi-led aggression against Yemen.
In January this year, Yemen’s armed forces and Ansarallah struck deep into Emirati territory, striking Abu Dhabi on the same day that Israeli President Isaac Herzog was visiting the Gulf country. The strike was considered a dual message to both the Saudi-led coalition and Israel.