Isolating the Emirati regime has become an urgent necessity
Anyone closely observing the behaviour of the leaders of the Emirati regime, particularly under the leadership of Mohammed bin Zayed, in handling sensitive regional issues—foremost among them, the Arab-Israeli conflict—will find that this small state has inflicted painful betrayals on the Palestinian cause. The UAE is not merely a pioneer of normalisation with the occupation state; rather, it aligns itself completely with the ideology of the far-right extremists seeking to seize the land and its people.
The justifications presented by the Emirati regime for signing the Abraham Accords—claiming a pursuit of peace in the region and assistance for Palestinians in obtaining their rights—have been exposed as blatant lies. Following the agreement, Israeli actions in Palestine demonstrated the exact opposite. Settlement expansion not only continued but intensified, while settler attacks on Palestinian civilians and Al-Aqsa Mosque escalated to alarming levels. Reports even surfaced suggesting that Israel was preparing to build the Third Temple on the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
All of this occurred under the watchful eye of Mohammed bin Zayed, who remained completely passive—not even issuing a symbolic condemnation or threatening to freeze agreements. Instead, relations between the two sides strengthened. High-level visits continued, security, military, and economic cooperation flourished, and Emirati businessmen invested in Israeli settlements and donated to extremist settler organizations.
What is particularly alarming about this normalization is that the Emirati regime imposed it upon its people, forbidding any form of solidarity or even sympathy with Palestinians under the threat of imprisonment or deportation. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers roamed freely in the UAE, holding Torah celebrations that glorified Israel, cursed Arabs, and wished them death.
Mohammed bin Zayed did not stop at normalizing ties within his own country, Bahrain, and Morocco; he sought to enforce normalization across the entire Arab world—sometimes through incentives and other times through coercion. A striking example of this was the UAE’s role in exacerbating the conflict between Morocco and Algeria, pressuring Algeria into an unusually aggressive media campaign against Bin Zayed.
This pattern persisted until the outbreak of the October 7 events and Israel’s subsequent brutal aggression against Gaza, which has lasted over fifteen months. During this period, the Israeli occupation forces committed unprecedented crimes—acts of genocide that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of women and children while destroying over 80% of Gaza’s infrastructure. Yet, despite the harrowing images of murder, destruction, and starvation, the Emirati regime remained unmoved, failing even to take the most basic humanitarian steps to tell Israel, “Enough.”
Shockingly, normalization not only continued but deepened. Mohammed bin Zayed remained unwavering in his commitments to the Israelis and Americans, as promised in the Abraham Accords—ensuring that UAE-Israel ties would not be affected, regardless of Israeli actions against Palestinians. Business went on as usual, with Israeli delegations actively participating in military and economic exhibitions, securing their own pavilions, attending high-level conferences, and enjoying full Emirati support. The UAE even promoted images of these events, indifferent to criticism. Meanwhile, countries geographically distant from Palestine—such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, Honduras, Colombia, Bolivia, and South Africa—raised their voices against Israeli crimes, some even severing diplomatic ties.
When the Houthis targeted ships heading to Israel via the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, causing supply shortages in Israel, Mohammed bin Zayed rushed to the rescue. He established a land corridor through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan to occupied Palestine to ensure the flow of essential goods—an effort that played a significant role in preventing the collapse of Israel’s economy.
To mask its complicity, the UAE launched a humanitarian campaign called “Gallant Knight,” though it bore no resemblance to its name. It was nothing more than a propaganda effort to whitewash the Emirati regime’s crimes. Testimonies from Gaza and international reports confirmed that, throughout the 15-month war, shortages of food, medicine, and fuel only worsened, and the UAE’s so-called aid was negligible in alleviating the humanitarian crisis.
Additionally, the Emirati media machine relentlessly echoed Israeli narratives, often surpassing Israeli media in hostility toward Palestinians. The UAE actively worked to sabotage every attempt at serious resolutions in Arab and Islamic summits, as well as in international forums convened to address the genocide.
American investigative journalist Bob Woodward, in his book The War, published in October 2024, exposed the Emirati regime’s real stance on the genocide. He revealed that behind closed doors, Mohammed bin Zayed’s private conversations starkly contradicted his public statements. During a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Bin Zayed reportedly said: “Israel must be patient. It has all the space it needs to finish the job and eliminate the factions in Gaza. At the same time, Israel should allow us to send aid to maintain public support.”
Beyond this, the UAE actively pressured nations through diplomatic channels to adopt the Israeli narrative and refrain from taking measures against Israel. It even attempted to coerce South Africa into withdrawing its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. However, South Africa refused to yield, standing firm in its legal battle—a case that, tellingly, was only supported by Turkey and Libya from the Arab and Muslim world.
Despite all its efforts to ensure Israel’s continued genocide, the UAE ultimately failed. As Donald Trump neared his return to the White House, he exerted pressure for a ceasefire agreement, ultimately securing a fragile truce. But within days of taking office, Trump unveiled a shocking new proposal—mass displacement of Gaza’s population. When asked about this plan, Emirati Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba remarked: “It’s difficult, but there’s no alternative!”
This dangerous statement, celebrated by Trump on his platform, and the Emirati regime’s failure to take action against its ambassador, confirm that the UAE remains committed to a singular path—serving the agendas of the U.S. and Israel in the region. The hollow rhetoric about defending Palestinian rights in international forums is nothing but blatant deception.
It is now abundantly clear that the Emirati regime will never abandon normalization with Israel, as its survival is intertwined with the fate of the occupation state under American protection. The UAE, increasingly labelled as a rogue state due to the devastation it has wrought in neighbouring countries, cannot afford to break away from this sinister alliance—knowing that, the moment it does, the people it has deeply wounded will rise against it.
We recognize that Arab regimes are not innocent in their dealings with Israel, whether in secret or in public. Jordan and Egypt, both bound by peace treaties with Israel, have maintained their agreements regardless of events in Palestine. However, they took a firm stance against Trump’s displacement plan and have not weaponized their wealth to fuel regional conflicts as the UAE has.
It is also well-known that these regimes, without exception, have perpetrated countless crimes against their own people over decades, simply for demanding change. During the Arab Spring uprisings, these regimes, bankrolled by Emirati funds, crushed revolutions with violence, imprisonment, and torture—entrenching dictatorship, corruption, and economic plunder.
Given the Emirati regime’s extensive domestic and regional damage, isolating it has become an urgent necessity. Its meddling, especially in the Palestinian cause, must be stopped. If there remains any shred of dignity among Arab states, they must no longer tolerate the UAE’s reckless actions. The path it has chosen in alignment with Israel contradicts all logic, morality, and ethics. It must be held accountable and left to face the consequences of its actions. The Arab world does not need the UAE, particularly when non-Arab nations have taken honourable stances. These countries should be engaged in joint efforts to counter imminent threats.
The Arab—and indeed, global—political order is at its weakest as Trump resumes power. His foreign policy is dictated by brute force and transactional deals, offering no guarantees of continued U.S. protection. Ukraine was abandoned overnight. The European Union faces existential threats. Trump views Canada as his next subordinate state. Given his track record of betraying close allies, should the UAE and others not expect to be discarded at any moment?
Arab leaders must reassess their strategies, prioritizing the interests of their people instead of blindly serving U.S. and Israeli agendas. Decades of bloodshed, plunder, and destruction must end. It is time to break free from America’s grip and forge independent alliances built on mutual respect and clear principles that uphold the rights and sovereignty of nations.
The emergency Arab summit, initially scheduled for February 27 but postponed to March 4 in response to Trump’s proposal, followed a Gulf Cooperation Council leaders’ meeting attended by Egypt and Jordan, which concluded without any official statement. However, instead of being delayed, the summit should have been convened immediately after the announcement of the fragile ceasefire agreement. The focus should have been on reinforcing the ceasefire and implementing concrete measures to provide humanitarian relief and reconstruction for Gaza, rather than reacting to a proposal that was dead on arrival.
It would be a grave mistake for the summit to be held solely to address Trump’s plan—such a reaction is futile, as the plan has already been discarded into the dustbin of history. Those preparing to attend this summit must recognize that Trump’s proposal was nothing more than a tactical manoeuvre aimed at pressuring them into confronting the Palestinian people and forcing them to intervene militarily to dismantle Palestinian factions in Gaza. The focus, therefore, must shift away from this political distraction. Instead, the summit should prioritize solidifying the ceasefire, securing humanitarian aid for Gaza’s population, initiating reconstruction efforts, and taking decisive steps to halt the creeping genocide in the West Bank.
There is now undeniable evidence that Netanyahu and his far-right government are constantly seeking opportunities for expansion and aggression. Their pursuit of normalization is merely a tool to realize their messianic territorial ambitions. If there is any positive outcome from Trump’s plan, it is that it has exposed Netanyahu’s true intentions. He eagerly embraced the proposal and, with brazen audacity, even suggested establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was next in line for normalization, and both sides had made significant progress in secret and public meetings to achieve this goal—coming dangerously close to finalising it.
For this reason, the Arab summit must rise to the level of the challenges and critical junctures ahead. Netanyahu and his government are already preparing to resume their aggression. Their blatant disregard for the first phase of the ceasefire agreement is evident, and they continue to impose impossible conditions for the second phase, signalling their intent to perpetuate the violence. This requires firm and decisive resistance—even if it necessitates military intervention. It would be a disgrace for Arab leaders to once again stand by idly as Netanyahu resumes the genocide he initiated 16 months ago.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.