JERUSALEM (AP) — The close partnership between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is usually conducted behind closed doors. However, this week the relationship was pushed into public view, revealing strains within the partnership as regional warfare involving Iran spreads across the Middle East.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee first drew attention to the growing cooperation between Israel and the UAE when he disclosed that Israel had deployed Iron Dome air-defense systems and operators to help shield the UAE from Iranian strikes.
Following this revelation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had secretly traveled to the UAE during the conflict, which prompted an immediate public rejection from the Gulf state.
While Netanyahu and the Trump administration promote their regional partnerships as part of efforts to strengthen anti-Iran coalitions, Gulf nations prefer to minimize public attention on these collaborations — demonstrating how open connections to Israel continue to create significant controversy across the region.
Here’s what you need to understand about the Israel-UAE partnership:
Netanyahu’s choice to disclose his wartime journey to Abu Dhabi created waves, especially following Huckabee’s confirmation of military collaboration between the nations. Speculation emerged that Israel’s security leadership had also made visits.
The UAE’s official WAM news agency published a statement rejecting “reports circulating” about the visit. The agency stated that the country’s relations with Israel “are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements.”
The statement also rejected claims that any Israeli military delegation was hosted in the UAE.
“It complicates Abu Dhabi’s wartime-frame posture by forcing it into the open — which is why the denial was issued so quickly and worded so carefully,” said Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi Arabia-based scholar at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center.
Although the UAE established normalized relations with Israel in 2020, its leadership prefers to maintain the partnership with some discretion.
Hostility toward the Jewish state remains widespread in Arab and Muslim nations throughout the Middle East. These negative sentiments intensified due to the Gaza conflict, which started after Hamas, a militant organization supported by Iran, launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza devastated large portions of the territory and has resulted in more than 72,700 Palestinian deaths, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant casualties. The conflict expanded regionally, with Israel conducting deadly and destructive operations against Iran-backed militants in Lebanon and Yemen, and attacking militant positions in Qatar and Syria.
“We are the ugly duckling of the Middle East,” said Dan Diker, the president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, a conservative Israeli think tank.
Diker, who has conducted extensive discussions and built relationships with Abraham Accord nations in the region, noted that regional officials he frequently negotiated with consistently requested to maintain low profiles.
Israel and the UAE worked together militarily during the conflict with Iran. Israel benefited from establishing a defense presence in a nation geographically nearer to its primary adversary. The UAE, in return, obtained access to Israeli military technology, including the Iron Dome air-defense system.
The partnership has also provided economic advantages for both nations, with commerce between them growing consistently since 2020.
Israel, historically isolated in the Middle East, gains credibility through partnership with an Arab nation. The UAE gains influence in Washington.
The UAE became the third Arab nation, following Egypt and Jordan, to create complete diplomatic relations with Israel.
Netanyahu confronts strong domestic opposition as Israel approaches election season. He believes his standing improves when he can demonstrate to his supporters that he operates as a Middle East power broker.
The Iran conflict did not significantly boost the leader’s domestic approval. One factor that might improve it — while strengthening his strained relationship with President Donald Trump — would be additional regional powers following the UAE’s example. Israel is currently in discussions with Azerbaijan about joining the Abraham Accords.
However, if Netanyahu hoped that publicizing close Israel-UAE connections could serve as an example for other nations, he may need to moderate his expectations.
Saudi Arabia, a regional leader that has refused to join the Abraham Accords, has pursued a different strategy throughout the conflict. It has kept open communication channels with Tehran, and has backed Pakistan’s mediation efforts between the parties, said Alghannam, the Saudi Arabia-based scholar.
“The aim is not to take a posture on Israel, per se. It is to refuse entanglement in a war whose dynamics Riyadh did not set and cannot control,” he said.
“Riyadh discussing the full range of options openly, with partners, without locking into one track, is itself a strategic signal,” he said. “The regional security architecture will be designed regionally, not inherited from whatever Washington and Tehran negotiate bilaterally.”
