UAE source: Netanyahu knew about U.S. deal to sell arms to Emiratis

Senior Emirati official tells Ynet the prime minister was aware the agreement with the Gulf state was conditioned on the multi-billion-dollar arms sale, which undermines Israeli military superiority in the region, and fully approved it
Yaniv Halili |
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A senior source in the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew about the clause in the normalization deal that would see U.S. sell F-35 fighter jets and advanced drones to the Emiratis, potentially undermining Israeli military superiority in the region.
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    • The establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE was announced last week and Ynet's sister publication Yedioth Ahronoth reported early Tuesday that Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed conditioned the agreement with Israel on the multi-billion-dollar arms sale.
    2 View gallery
    גורם בכיר באיחוד האמירויות: עסקת המטוסים היא חלק מההסכם    גורם בכיר באיחוד האמירויות: עסקת המטוסים היא חלק מההסכם
    U.S. ro sell F-35 fighter jets and advanced drones to the Emiratis
    (Photo: AFP, Shutterstock)
    The source told Ynet that Netanyahu was aware of the deal from the beginning and gave his full approval.
    The clause lifts long-standing Israeli opposition to the sale of the strategic weapons systems to other countries in the region.
    According to the source, Israel, the U.S. and the UAE agreed to improve the military capability of the kingdom as part of the peace agreement.
    2 View gallery
    בנימין נתניהו     בנימין נתניהו
    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
    (Photo: AP, Flash 90)
    The remarks come just hours after Netanyahu categorically denied there was a secret clause in the Israel-UAE deal.
    "The peace agreement with the UAE does not include any clause of this kind, and the U.S. has made clear to Israel that it will always ensure that Israel has the qualitative advantage," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement tweeted by Netanyahu.
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    3.
    it is about weapons, sovereignty must be over all our land!
    it is all about weapons the the emirates want, nothing about our sovereignty extension over all our core land! We are not compromising on this of course not!!! it is a strategic move, but full sovereignty must be established over all our core lands! When ADONAY liberated our land and gave it to us as an hereditary portion no amalkites were around!! it is not today that they will be there!!! no way! we will find for them a space in the Sinai desert close to gaza! let them live there. We will use the experience of the emirates and help build for them a new dudai with the help of Europe in the Sinay!! this is were the amalakites will live! the holy land is only for Jews!!! This is ADONAY who said this!!! so let the emirates have some weapon, nothing bad, they still need to be capable of managing the weapons, and in that our IDF of course are superior! we can strike and destroy of of them, if they start fricking out! No jokes with Zion!!!
    menasseh ben yehuda| 08.21.20
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    2.
    congenital liar and weakling
    of course, in my opinion, bibi likely knew about f35 and other arms sales to uae. i think he believes his own lies. Just like i believe he accepted a plo state, denials aside. there is no sovereignty with this liar. If you hear his warning to Hamas and jihad- we treat balloon fires like rockets. we may resume targeted assassinations, we are hitting infrastructure and if need be a full scale war. we hope to avoid this. we hope Hamas understands his. spoken like a waffling coward. look at his track record. he is the most reluctant, he hesitates and stalls and races to ceasefires. in my opinion he is 100% coward, no guts. hamas mocks his weakness mercilessly.i do not believe Israelis understand the depth of his cowardice. I call on gantz to resign. he is not up the job, either in the past or now. he is not fit to be defense minister. Neither is bibi. the only one who showed bottom line results was bennett who is waiting in the wings. we need new elections as bibi and gantz are far too weak.
    ray| 08.18.20
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    1.
    Someone is not honest. Who is it? Someone you trust?
    Ken| 08.18.20
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