Israel and the United Arab Emirates’ defense ministers pledged on Tuesday to boost communication between their countries after their deal to normalize ties, according to an Israeli defense ministry statement and UAE state news agency WAM.
A U.S.-brokered deal on establishing full relations between Israel and the UAE was announced on Aug. 13, forming a new axis in confronting Shi’ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Islamist militants in the Middle East. The UAE is only the third Arab country to normalize relations with Israel in more than 70 years.
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Defense Minister Benny Gantz and UAE Minister of State for Defense Affairs Mohammed al-Bawardi
(Photo: Avi Moalem)
In a telephone call, UAE Minister of State for Defense Affairs Mohammed al-Bawardi and Defence Minister Benny Gantz said they were “looking forward to strengthening communication channels”, a statement carried by WAM said.
Gantz’s office quoted him as saying that they agreed to “keep an open channel between them”.
“We share important security interests. Cooperation will bolster regional stability,” a statement from Gantz’s office said.
While the deal has met some Israeli dissent over requests by the UAE for Washington to provide it with F-35 stealth fighter jets, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reassured Israel on Monday that it would retain a military advantage in the region under any future arms deals.
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Amit Shabi)
A senior U.S. State Department official said that "it makes perfect sense for us to be strengthening (the) UAE's defense capabilities at a time when they're under new threats for agreeing (to) peace with Israel," citing potential threats from Iran.
An Israeli defense official said that while Israel was firm in opposing any prospective U.S. sale of the F-35 to the UAE, the Netanyahu government was "entirely immersed" on the question of expanding criteria for Israeli defense exports to the Gulf power.
According to defense industry sources, Israel has sold the UAE security products in the cyber and surveillance realm. A study by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab has linked spyware technologies produced by Israel's NSO Group to political surveillance in the UAE.
In the early 2000s, Israel was in talks to sell the UAE drones, according to a U.S. official who was involved in the negotiations - but called off the deal after the 2010 death in Dubai of an arms dealer with the Islamist group Hamas, which Emirati authorities blamed on a Mossad hit team.
First published: 20:39, 08.25.20