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After the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi “Mohammed bin Zayed” and US President Donald Trump announced a “peace” agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, in exchange for what they called Israel's postponement of the upcoming annexation plan to the West Bank, this agreement does not establish relations between the two countries as much as it culminates in years of communication And the political, security and military alliance in many files, the most prominent of which was the eradication of the Arab Spring and the fight against political Islam, in addition to the great economic alliance between the two countries, which we discussed in this report prior to the agreement.

Dubai’s wealthy residents and visitors know Levant, the emirate’s most popular chain of jewelry and high-fashion stores, and many of them are keen to show off their luxury exhibits. Today the famous group owns 11 luxury diamond and clothing stores dotted between Dubai's most prestigious neighborhoods, malls and hotels. On the group's profile page on its website, we are presented with the look of an elegant young man (1), reflecting the most perfect picture of the chairman of a global company that sells the latest high fashion jewelry and luxury fashion: Aref Bin Khadra, a Moroccan-Palestinian businessman who runs his business in Dubai, and has 18 years of age in this field.

However, Bin Khadra's fame does not stop at the borders of Dubai only, for 2,000 miles from the Emirate of Money and Lights, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank know their homes as well, but in a way that does not call for much pride. Here in Palestine, everyone is certain that things will not remain true if they are smashed by blood, and diamonds - as bright as they are - are no exception to this. At the very least, this was a picture of Bin Khadra from the point of view of the people of the villages of Bil'in and Jayyous in the occupied West Bank, when they appealed to the Palestinian Khadra family to pressure their son to stop his partnership with a man who everyone here hates, and he certainly deserves to hate them. A man known as Lev Lviv (2), known to the world as the "King of Diamonds".

Palestinians know Leviev in a way far from the sparkle of diamonds that define the identity of the Jewish billionaire throughout the world that hosts his famous brand. Here Lviv is defined by its companies that until recently were working day and night in building settler homes on the rubble of Palestinian homes. Dubai opens its doors to it after it has gradually turned into a new center for Israeli diamond dealers.

Israeli diamond dealer Lev Leviev during a press conference in 2001 (Reuters)

The beginning was with the establishment of the Dubai Diamond Exchange in 2004, announcing the storming of the Gulf emirate into a commercial activity that everyone knows is subject to the domination of Jewish merchants (4), which inevitably means the Emirati acceptance of effective forms of relations with Israel. And Dubai’s membership in the World Federation of Diamond Bourses was accepted in the same year, after the approval of the 22 member states at the time, and without much opposition from the Hebrew entity. Since then, the volume of diamond trade in Dubai has increased from less than five billion dollars, prior to the establishment of the Dubai Stock Exchange, to 40 billion dollars in 2012, making Dubai the second largest diamond exchange in the world after the famous Weintraub inch, with a trading volume of Israeli diamonds not less than 300 million. Dollars annually.

The importance of Dubai for the Israeli diamond industry stems from the fact that it entered the market in which the Hebrew state is looking for new markets, especially after the decline of the American market due to the recession. As for Dubai, this meant the presence of the Emirate of lights in an industry that perfectly fits that image that it wants to see. The world sees it according to it. But the price of winning membership in the Global Rich Club was not a secret to anyone, as the Gulf emirate had to accept to facilitate the movement of Israeli businessmen inside it, and the transfer of Emirati businessmen to attend exhibitions and financial markets in Israel, headed by Ahmed Bin Sulayem, head of the Dubai Stock Exchange, who visited Israel several times. Times. Lviv was known as one of those Israelis who were granted the diamond ticket to pass through Dubai, with their frequently announced identities, and with treatment amounting to that of diplomats and ambassadors.

However, the UAE laws that do not allow Israelis to work in the Emirates directly, and the fierce boycott campaigns at the time, remained an obstacle for Israeli businessmen in expanding their activities outside the merchants' exchanges, reaching the audience of elegant jewelry that the emirate attracts from every direction. Lviv chose to hide his expanding activities by partnering with Khadra, a rising businessman whose name is in the local Emirati market, but the presence of Lviv jewelry in Levant's exhibits during the grand opening of the legendary Atlantis Hotel in Jumeirah in 2008 was clearer than wrong, and he was not enough to shed The spotlight is green alone, but it has drawn attention to a promising new trade for the Israelis in the heart of a Gulf country that is supposed to not establish "official" diplomatic or commercial relations with the Hebrew state.

It is not just Lviv. Israeli diamond emperor Benny Steinmetz, imprisoned since 2016 over illegal diamond deals in Guinea, has his own diamond trade in Dubai. Steinmetz is known as a partner of the South African De Beer Group, a group controlled by a Jewish family that is known to be the largest distributor of diamonds in the world. For Steinmetz, Business Dubai is not limited to the diamond trade, but also extends to an almost announced partnership with the emirate’s crown jewel, the Dubai Ports company. In 2008, the "Steinmetz" group signed a contract with DP World to establish a number of hotels and real estate projects in Montenegro (5).

Israeli billionaire Benny Steinmetz (Reuters)

Like Lviv, Steinmetz’s records do not invite pride for an Arab country that still defines itself as a “supporter of the Palestinians.” While the former was known for its investments in building settlements on potential Palestinian lands, the latter was famous for his support for the elite Israeli brigade Givati ​​(6) during the Israeli war on Gaza in 2008, when the brigade appeared on the list of entities that receive support from the "Steinmetz" group, on the group's official website at the time under "social responsibility" (7), along with the Art Museum in Tel Aviv and the Israel Cancer Association.

The Givati ​​Brigade has been accused of committing war crimes against civilians and children in the Gaza Strip, however, these "small" details do not seem to occupy the minds of the rulers in the Emirates most likely as long as they remain under secrecy, that secrecy, which was the only ruling base for deep-rooted relations, gradually developed, Between the United Arab Emirates and the Hebrew entity, over a period of nearly a decade and a half.

Despite the irony that the UAE, which does not establish official relations with Israel, bears for allowing an Israeli businessman working in building settlements to conduct his business in them, a look at the way things are being managed in Abu Dhabi reveals to us that the matter is not a cause for much surprise. Several years ago, specifically in 2005, and with the implementation of the unilateral withdrawal plan for Israel from the Gaza Strip, the UAE found itself at the center of the controversy over the settlement issue, in a story whose main hero was Muhammad al-Abbar, a businessman close to the Emirati ruling class, and head of the council Managing Emaar Group, the largest real estate group in the country.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Al-Abbar found himself, who is clustered under the protection of the Abu Dhabi authority, suddenly in the crosshairs of the Emirati press, after a secret visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, during which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israeli President Shimon Peres, according to the assurances of the Hebrew newspapers at the time. . This was the highest contact of any Emirati with the leadership of the Hebrew entity until that date (8), but this high-level contact was not alone in the biggest surprise of Al-Abbar, as much as the deal that was discussed during the meeting, where Al-Abbar made the Israelis a tempting offer to buy 21 An Israeli settlement, which the Jewish entity was planning to destroy before the withdrawal from Gaza, for a huge sum estimated at the time at $ 56 million.

"Emaar" had announced earlier that it was planning to establish a branch in the occupied Palestinian territories under the name "Emaar Palestine", with the aim of building modern and equipped housing for Palestinians. However, the Emirati company was apparently planning to invest in settler housing and resell it to the Palestinians. At that time, this plan was "more than reckless" to the extent that it prompted Emirati officials to repudiate Al-Abbar's behavior, accusing him of "exceeding his negotiating powers" in the said deal.

Muhammad Al-Abbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties (Reuters)

In the midst of an unprecedented attack, Alabbar found himself forced to deny talking about the deal, let alone meeting Sharon or Peres. But the expected surprise appeared in the WikiLeaks leaks that talked about a meeting held the next month directly between Michael Sasson, the US ambassador to the UAE, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (9), during which Ibn Zayed confirmed - with excessive confidence - that he He was not opposed to Al-Abbar’s plans in principle, and that he thinks “it is better to make use of these houses than to demolish them.” However, he advised Al-Abbar to prepare the matter for the Palestinians first, but he - that is, Al-Abbar - “did not deal with the matter appropriately,” as Ibn Zayed.

This incident, and other Ibn Zayed hadiths leaked by WikiLeaks, summarizes the nature of his view of his country's relationship with Israel: The UAE does not object to establishing any kind of contacts or exchanges with Tel Aviv, as long as it remains secret and the country's rulers will not charge the people's tax to establish relations with an entity Arab peoples see him as the first enemy. A WikiLeaks document (10), dating back to early 2007, shows a dialogue between bin Zayed and Ambassador Nicholas Burns, the advisor to the US State Department. During the interview, bin Zayed did not hide his feeling of anger that a Jewish association supporting Israel announced that it would visit Abu Dhabi, while the Emirati leadership wanted the visit to be wrapped in secrecy. Ibn Zayed assured Burns that "the UAE does not see Israel as an enemy," and that "the Al Nahyan family has supported Christian associations and their medical missions since the 1950s," in a veiled reference to his tolerance of Jewish religious activity.

However, this tolerance for the Israeli other, which is broadened by Bin Zayed's chest, quickly turns into distress and restlessness when it comes to Palestinian resistance movements, foremost of which is Hamas. In late January 2007, during a meeting of Mohammed bin Zayed, and his foreign minister, his brother Abdullah bin Zayed, with Nicholas Burns and Ambassador James Jeffrey, Mohammed bin Zayed denounced the US focus on elections in the Middle East (11), given what they had produced. In Palestine from the victory of Hamas, stressing that "the masses in the Middle East tend to go with their hearts, and vote overwhelmingly in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood and the jihadists represented by Hamas and Hezbollah."

Bin Zayed holds a clear stance towards the Palestinian-Israeli duality, which is an inverted position that requires a lot of identification and distinction between what is secret and what is declared, and between statements received for media consumption and real policies. This position is summed up in a rejection of the overt normalization of relations with Israel, but accompanied by an unrestrained willingness to open all back doors wide for relations of all kinds with the Israeli entity. Relationships that begin with trade and tourism and do not end with security and politics, and disguised support for the Palestinians masks a real disdain for their choices and Emirati political opportunism in dealing with their cause. It is a vision that clearly departs from two main determinants: the first is Abu Dhabi’s hatred of Iran and the political Islam currents that lead the Palestinian popular discourse, and it is a “phobia” that pushes Abu Dhabi to establish relations with Israel on the basis of the existence of common enemies, and the second is Abu Dhabi's belief that the key to maintaining good relations with the United States It cannot come without a "blessing" from Tel Aviv.

The Dubai Ports Company continued to work with Ofer to establish a container terminal in a port in northern Spain, proving that economic cooperation between Israeli businessmen and the UAE is not confined to the country only (Reuters)

And it seems that the UAE has succeeded in obtaining the blessing of the Hebrew entity sooner than everyone thinks. In 2006, while Dubai Ports was seeking to obtain a contract to manage six major American ports, and in light of a severe attack on the deal in Congress, some came under the pretext that American ports could not be leased to a company that does not have public relations with Israeli companies, the most prominent voice in favor of Dubai She applauded from there from Tel Aviv (12), specifically from one of the wealthiest businessmen in Israel, Idan Ofer, owner of the Israeli company "Zim" integrated shipping services, who wrote a letter to Congress praising the services provided by Dubai Ports, confirming that His company is allowed to operate in all ports managed by the first Emirati company, despite the official boycott.

Dubai Ports did not get the US deal in the end, but that did not prevent it from continuing to work with Ofer to establish a container terminal in a port in northern Spain (13), proving that economic cooperation between Israeli businessmen and the UAE is not confined to the country only. But it extends to the establishment of several joint ventures around the world.

One example of a cross-border business model was the partnership between Dubai Ports and the Israeli "Elad" group registered in London (14) and owned by Israeli businessman Yitzhak Tshuva, to establish a huge project in Singapore under the name "South Beach", with investments amounting to $ 2.1 billion in 2007, in partnership with a local company, a project that graduated from both parties in 2012.

The activities of Israeli companies in the UAE expanded to include all fields, and to include all categories of companies, including companies affiliated with settlements. Regarding the emirate of Dubai, which blew the start whistle for commercial normalization with Israel, most of the Israeli companies operating in the emirate were in the fields of agriculture, diamond trade and shipping, and most of them were registered in Cyprus, London or India at times. For example, in 2007 Israeli businessman Yossi Shimer signed a contract under which his company would establish a camel farm and a milking parlor in Dubai. The headquarters of "Shimmer" company is located in the colony of Avivim, while the UAE contract was signed through an English agent of the Israeli company. As befits the emirate of al-Bariq, the voice of money and trade remained dominant in the partnership with Israel here, with the exception of a contract signed with an Israeli company for security solutions to secure the home of a prince. On the other hand, in the capital, Abu Dhabi, the bustle of commerce was fainter, while the squeaking of swords was louder.

Not all of the planes that take off and land on a daily basis from Ben Gurion Airport have aroused the appetite of journalists as well as the plane flying a Swiss flag (16), which flies in approximately one weekly flight. The Airbus A319 registered with Tail number (D-APTA) bears the logo of Private Air, an airline headquartered in Geneva. The plane departs for one destination, Jordan, although Queen Alia Airport in the Hashemite Kingdom has not officially registered its arrival on any occasion. While aviation radars on the Internet show that a flight that leaves Tel Aviv, and stops for a short period in Amman, quickly leaves for Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi airport, too, has never registered its arrival at any time.

Matti Kochavi, founder of "Asia Global Technology" or (AGT) (networking sites)

The aforementioned plane has a capacity of 56 seats, and it is equipped with eight business class seats, according to the Swiss company Private Air, which has strongly refused all requests to disclose the identity of its customer. However, one person can explain his activity to explain the closed circle that connects the three separate destinations, Switzerland, the UAE and Israel. An enigmatic 50s businessman, described by some as an upgraded version of old arms dealers, but with a prestigious tie and certification in business administration. A man everyone knows as Matti Kochavi.

Born in Haifa, Kochavi studied history and philosophy at its university, and it is reported that he wanted to be a journalist early in his life. It is likely that Kochavi spent his military service in Unit 8200, the famous unit in the occupation army, before moving in the nineties to New York, where he worked with wealthy real estate developers such as Stephen Ross and Martin Adelman, where he got a large office in the Time Warner Center, and there the man made his first fortune By investing in the real estate world.

The year 2007 marked a milestone in Kochavi's life, and it was the vision of the world for him. That year, the Israeli businessman chose to formally throw his weight in the electronic surveillance industry, after announcing the establishment of his most important company under the name of Asia Global Technology, or "AGT", in Zurich, Switzerland. While the company today operates on five continents around the world, with a total of eight billion dollars in contracts, one of its largest contracts ever, and possibly its first contract, was a contract worth more than $ 800 million with the United Arab Emirates, in order to provide a system To monitor essential infrastructure and oil fields.

At that time, the security behavior of the United Arab Emirates was a matter of great surprise. One year before the signing of the big contract, no one could understand the secret of the UAE's insistence on investing $ 20 million in one contract to obtain images from the Israeli satellite, Image Sat, which ErosB launched it at that time via a specially constructed land station in Abu Dhabi (17), a contract renewed again in 2009. At that time, ImageSat represented a breakthrough in the world of spy satellites, with a superior ability to distinguish between any Two objects with a distance of no more than 70 cm on the ground, and a range of coverage that allows taking shots from any spot in the world with unprecedented accuracy. Israel had launched the satellite with the aim of spying on Iran's nuclear activities, so it was believed at the time that the UAE might want to obtain pictures of Iran's activities on the disputed islands (18).

But Kochavi's activity, which was later disclosed, along with Israel's smooth approval of granting Abu Dhabi the privilege to use satellite imagery, despite its rejection of similar requests from other countries, were enough to provide a more coherent interpretation of the controversial satellite deal. Between 2007 and 2015, IGT established one of the most integrated surveillance systems in the world, a system containing thousands of cameras and sensors extending over 620 miles along the entire UAE border, while the information it collects is poured into a database called Wisdom, supervised by Kochavi It is managed through one of its largest companies in the heart of Israel, a company called "Logic Industries", whose board of directors is headed by veteran Amos Malak (19), the former head of the Military Intelligence Service, "Aman". It is not excluded that with Kochavi and his companies' wide influence in Israel, and the exploratory effort required by establishing a system of this size and accuracy, Kochavi may have mediated to facilitate Abu Dhabi's access to the Israeli satellite services, in order to provide the necessary geographical information and maps a year before the official announcement of his huge contract. With Abu Dhabi.

 A video explaining the capabilities of the Emirati surveillance system "Eye of the Falcon", which was established by the Israeli Kochavi

The comprehensive monitoring system that Kochavi established in the UAE is known as "The Falcon's Eye" (20), and it is believed that it was fully operational in the middle of last year. Falcon Eye can be defined as a tightly packed intelligence infrastructure, and its goal does not appear to be limited to securing vital facilities. As far as it extends to imposing strict and frightening censorship on all forms of communication in the country. Caucavi apparently did not forget his dreams of being a journalist before becoming emperor of real estate and then a baron of surveillance tools, and at no point did he leave his mind at any moment in the Arab Spring revolutions that took the whole world by surprise a few years ago, which prompted him later in 2013 to establish a small company Under the name "Vocatiev", he revives his old dreams in a way that fits his current job, and Vocatiev is simply an unprecedented disturbing system that combines features from both newsrooms and intelligence communities.

Kovati believes that today's press has become unable to cover mass trends, due to the limitations of its traditional methods that rely on polling a few individuals, and this is due to the fact that some trends can only be detected by polling millions of individuals (21), in various ways and over long periods. What can be done today through social media, but by invoking the tools of the intelligence world.

Through Vocatiev, it is possible today to analyze millions of publications that contain a certain idea or word broadcast on social media, measure the extent of its impact, provide a spectral analysis of this effect, and even re-engineer public opinion on these sites by producing content on the same topics and promoting it in an opposite way. But the most worthy of attention is that with Kochavi and Vocatev’s relationship with Israeli intelligence activities, allowing the use of these applications provides a “free intelligence gold mine” to the Hebrew entity (22), in exchange for the services that this company provides to its clients, foremost of which is tracking the most influential activists, and placing them under penalty Powers of repression.

It seems, then, that what unites Kochavi and the UAE regime goes far beyond an advanced working relationship, down to common ideological concerns imposed by the functions and ambitions of each. This may explain the Emirati satisfaction with working with Israeli companies, and in particular in the process of forming the infrastructure for a state of surveillance and repression, which appears to be taking place with almost complete Israeli supervision.

Despite the growing size of this partnership, the UAE's path to acquiring Israeli technologies does not always seem paved with roses. In 2012, the UAE tried to secure drones from the "Aeronautical Defense Systems" company, which was headed by Israeli businessman Avi Leumi, but The deal was halted due to opposition from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, after the UAE paid $ 70 million of the deal's price. In the immediate following year, the Israeli company "Raphael" supplied the Emirati army with "Samson" armored vehicles at a value of more than $ 35 million, and in order to avoid harassment by the Ministry of Defense, the deal was made through an intermediary coming from the diamond world (23), He is a South African businessman, David Hirschwitz. Hershwitz is known as a shareholder in "RIVA", a South African company that manufactures military vehicles of the same name that it has previously supplied to the UAE.

The list does not end there, but it extends to many Israeli businessmen and companies, which carry out their commercial activities in the Emirates with hidden identities, especially with regard to security services. One of them is David Maidan (24), a former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for POW affairs and missing soldiers until the end of 2014, and who today chairs the board of directors of the David Maidan projects company. Maidan has worked as an agent for Mossad for 30 years, providing the services of his company. Today for the Emirates in the field of internal security. In general, the French journal Intelligence Online estimates the volume of security trade between Abu Dhabi and Israel at nearly three billion dollars annually.

It seems that Israel accounts for the lion's share of the volume of trade funds between it and the Emirates, which means that most of the financial flows associated with this relationship go from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv and not vice versa. Something that seems self-evident in light of the technological and administrative superiority of the occupying entity, which is drooling over the rulers of the small Gulf emirate. But things do not go in this direction permanently. There is also a list of Emirati companies supplying vital products to the Hebrew state, on top of which is a company known as "Emirates of the Future", a company that deserves a lot of attention, especially if we know that 40% of the shares of this company are Owned by the famous businessman and Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of Mohammed bin Zayed.

Mansour's name does not appear on the company's official website. However, investigations conducted by "Middle East Eye" confirmed the appearance of the Emirati businessman on several occasions linked to the company (25). The company’s profile on its official website tells us a little bit of information about it: It was established in 2012 through a partnership between the Jordanian "Hijazi and Ghosheh" group, and an Emirati partner known as "Exap" to launch a joint business venture. The "Hegazy and Ghosheh" company was also established in 1985 by two businessmen, Essam Hegazy and Abdel Razzaq Ghosheh, who today hold the positions of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, respectively. The company identifies itself as one of the leading companies in the export of foodstuffs and animals, and exports livestock through a shipping company owned by it in Australia, headed by Ahmed Ghosheh, a member of the Ghosheh partner family in the main group.

The Ghosheh cargo fleet has a huge transportation capacity of 20,000 heads per shipment, and it lists Israel among more than 20 destinations that receive livestock from the company, which are delivered through the port of Eilat and then transferred to the Quarantine Center. While it is not known precisely the volume of shipments supplied to Israel annually through the group, Middle East Eye investigations, citing the Israeli newspaper "The Marker", indicated that "Hejazi and Ghosheh" were the only supplier of cows to Israel until 2012, before it was opened. The markets are partly in front of the herds coming from the European Union and the United States, indicating a turnover of tens of millions of dollars.

Once the cows leave the quarantine center, they are delivered to the Jordanian company’s client company, Saleh Dabah and Sons. The company is headed by Ahmed Dabah, a Palestinian-Israeli politician with close ties to the family of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Dabah was a member of the Likud party until 2005, when he left with Sharon to found the Kadima party. In 2012, Dabbah became the first Israeli-Palestinian representative in the Hebrew Parliament for the relatively new party. Dabah also has a close relationship with Omri Sharon, son of Ariel Sharon, who was elected to head the Israel Cattle Breeders Association in 2014, after five years he spent in prison over a corruption and money laundering case related to his father's 1999 election campaign.

Mansour bin Zayed is an ideal model for relations between his country and Abu Dhabi: An Emirati official does not mind entering into personal business deals with the Hebrew entity, but he is keen to conceal this activity through a long and intercontinental succession of agents, in order to preserve the principle of secrecy governing relations from the point of view of the side. Emirati at least. However, over time it becomes difficult to keep a growing relationship of this magnitude in secrecy forever.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, owner of English club Manchester City (Reuters)

The behavior of the UAE during the past two years indicates that they no longer feel much resentment about the frequent leaks of their relations with Israel, which are the leaks that often come from Israeli officials themselves, which may indicate an implicit collusion between the two parties to create the atmosphere for full and public relations, according to which flags are raised. The two countries are side by side in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, just as they were raised over the territory of Greece and in its airspace under the sight and hearing of all four months ago, specifically last March during the activities of "Eneochos 2017".

The air maneuver hosted by the Hellenic Air Force for ten days, with the participation of the United States, Italy, the Emirates and Israel, and which included training on fighting air battles, hitting ground targets, and avoiding missiles , was not the first of its kind combined war exercises between fighters from Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv . A year before the joint Greek exercises, the two flags were flying next to each other in the US airspace in Nevada, in the US Red Flag air maneuvers.

It is easy to hide the flags in specialized war games if there is a real will to do so, an ease that fades in comparison with the concealment of an unannounced representative office that has been run by the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash for years. At a time when Qatar closed the Israeli representative office there in the wake of the Gaza war in 2008, the Israeli press was celebrating the Israeli office in Abu Dhabi (26), which remained open under the emirate’s contract with the Israeli satellite, and it was an office that only Arabs knew about at the time. Those scattered references about it in the Hebrew newspapers.

By the end of 2015, Israeli representation in the UAE was taking its first institutional steps. At that time, Tel Aviv announced that it was opening a diplomatic mission in the UAE capital (27), under the framework of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), affiliated with the United Nations, and diplomat Rami Hattan was chosen to head the Israeli mission in Abu Dhabi. Several years ago, Israel supported the UAE's efforts to host the permanent headquarters of the organization at the expense of Germany, and Israeli officials such as Dore Gold, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Israeli Minister of Infrastructure Uzi Landau flocked to Abu Dhabi to participate in the organization's activities. Despite the UAE authorities ’assertion that the Zionist representation is not related to any activity that goes beyond the Renewable Energy Agency, everyone, including Israeli officials, knew that the truth went far beyond that.

Two years ago, Abu Dhabi surprised the world by allowing Israeli President Shimon Peres to deliver the opening speech at the Gulf Security Conference, a conference he hosted at the time from his office in Jerusalem via video conference, and in its background the Israeli flag appears before the hall erupted with applause at the end of the speech. At that moment, everyone realized that everything was changing, and that Abu Dhabi no longer cared much about that mask in which it had covered its relations with Israel for more than a decade.

Mohammed Dahlan with Mohammed bin Zayed during the latter's visit to Serbia (communication sites)

The Arab Spring was a defining moment that unveiled the truth about the policies adopted by the small Gulf emirate. The incident of the Palestinian Riad Shoukani, who was deported from Abu Dhabi after the UAE chose him between spying on Hamas or deportation, was not an objectionable sentence in the UAE's policy towards the Palestinians during the post-Arab Spring period. Abu Dhabi deported dozens of Palestinians, claiming they had relations with Hamas, and the disclosure of the involvement of some medical and humanitarian teams that entered the Strip as part of the Emirates Red Crescent mission in espionage operations for Israel was not a transient event (28). A member of the mission confessed to belonging to one of the Emirati security services, and admitted his attempt to identify Palestinian rocket launch sites.

It is not possible to talk about the influence of the Emirati security services without talking about Muhammad Dahlan, whom many know as the godfather of Emirati-Israeli relations, by virtue of his close relationship with the Israeli security services. During the past year, Dahlan and his student Fadi Al-Salameen were the subject of widespread controversy, after the latter bought a property near the Al-Aqsa Mosque and then ceded it in favor of the Emirati Al-Thuraya Company, a company believed to be owned by the former. Dahlan and Al Salameen have been charged with facilitating settlers' access to Jerusalem real estate using Emirati money. Although the intended property has not been transferred to any of the settlement establishments, the Islamic movement in the Green Line had confirmed its possession of documents proving the flow of funds through the Emirates to purchase dozens of properties that ended up in the possession of settlers in Jerusalem (29), which we have not confirmed. From him in the field completely.

With the UAE pushing towards more overt relations with Israel, the position of the Gulf emirate towards the Palestinian issue seems suspicious at best, and it is a position that is likely to continue its decline, just as much opposite to the development of Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv relations towards the declared normalization stage.

In 2006, Abdullah bin Zayed was feeling confident urging US President Francis Townsend to help sign a free trade agreement with Abu Dhabi (30), believing that his people did not know that signing the agreement meant opening trade with Israel. Six years later, the young Bin Zayed was brave enough to meet Netanyahu in New York, accompanied by his ambassador Yusef Al-Otaiba, but with a few precautions that included sneaking through the parking lot and taking the service elevator of the Netanyahu hotel at the time.

However, the long-awaited moment when the Israelis and the Emiratis will comfortably pose for their photos in front of the media seems to have come. Perhaps now the Emirati foreign minister feels a degree of relief, after he is certain that he will no longer have to resort to all the dubious methods and go up from the workers' elevator in order to meet Bibi.