The UAE has suspended plans for a summit in Abu Dhabi with Israel, the United States and Arab states in protest against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s attempts to use Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) as support in his election campaign, American sources reported the matter told me.
Why does it matter: This is the first major crisis between the United Arab Emirates and Israel since the announcement of normalization of relations last August.
- The emiratis are furious with Netanyahu for involving them in Israeli domestic politics.
Driving the news: Three weeks ago, Netanyahu spoke on the phone with MBZ and proposed holding a ceremony to sign the Israel-Sudan diplomatic relations agreement in Abu Dhabi.
- MBZ was open to this, but wanted to bring the Biden administration on board. US officials liked the idea and agreed to send a senior official to attend, but emphasized that they only want it after the Israeli elections, sources familiar with the matter said.
- The plan was to hold the summit in early April, right after the elections. But Netanyahu still wanted to visit Abu Dhabi before the elections.
- The emirates knew that he was only looking for a photo opportunity, but they did not want to create tensions and agreed to receive him. His visit last week was postponed because of a crisis between Israel and Jordan.
- Netanyahu continued to press for a new date for the visit, while mentioning the United Arab Emirates in almost all campaign rallies and interviews. One of Netanyahu’s main points of discussion was that MBZ promised to invest US $ 10 billion in Israel.
Between the lines: This was not entirely inaccurate. The question arose between the two, and the United Arab Emirates announced that they want to invest in Israel, but Netanyahu publicly presented this as if the MBZ’s motive was to give it political support. The emiratis did not like it.
For registration: The last straw was an interview that Netanyahu gave last Monday, in which he said MBZ “offered” to invest US $ 10 billion in Israel, according to American sources familiar with the matter. Netanyahu even claimed that MBZ told him that he believes in his economic leadership.
- The emiratis decided to retaliate. His first response was a statement by Industry Minister Sultan Jaber that investment in Israel was only at a very preliminary stage to be considered, and that any such investment will be economically motivated and not based on politics.
- The second response was to make it clear to Netanyahu in private and in public that he will not visit the United Arab Emirates before the elections. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash, who until a few weeks ago was foreign minister, tweeted that the UAE “will not participate in any internal election campaign in Israel, now or ever”.
- The third response was the decision to suspend the planned summit. The Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported for the first time on the Emirates decision. Sources familiar with the matter told me that the United Arab Emirates had notified the Biden government that it was suspending the summit because of Netanyahu’s behavior.
What is the next: The summit will take place at some point, but only after the political situation in Israel has cleared up and when Netanyahu, if he remains in office, manages to calm the ire of the Emirates, say sources familiar with the matter.