The Associated Press reported that environmental concerns threaten to cancel a secret oil deal between the UAE and Israel, which have concluded several trade agreements since they normalized last August.
And according to a report by the agency yesterday, Saturday, that Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv had concluded a secret deal to transfer Emirati oil to Western markets through the Israeli port of Eilat.
The deal was concluded last year as part of the normalization agreement between Israel and the UAE under the auspices of former US President Donald Trump.
The parties to the deal are the Eurasian Pipeline Company, owned by the Israeli government, and the Israeli-Emirati MED-RED Land Bridge project.
But the deal came into question after the new Israeli government opened a "review" on it under pressure from Israeli environmental organizations.
The move has angered investors, threatening a diplomatic row between Israel and its new allies in the Gulf region.
Israeli environmental groups have asked the Supreme Court to halt oil shipments.
Israel's environment minister has pledged to scrap the pipeline entirely.
UAE officials have said that scrapping the deal violates diplomatic agreements and could harm relations.
These disappointing developments come at a time when the two sides are looking to develop their economic relations.
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics stated that the country recorded 457 million dollars in imports from the UAE between January 2020 and June of this year, and 255 million dollars in exports to the UAE.
Dubai, which includes the region's largest transhipment port in Jebel Ali, said in January that bilateral trade since September 2020 amounted to $272 million.
Ze'ev Lavi of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce said that normalization expanded Israel's trade within the Middle East through the Emirates.
"We are much more integrated in the region," he added.
He considered that the agreement concluded with the UAE encourages trade with Egypt and Jordan, with which Israel signed peace agreements decades ago.
He added, "Many in the business community in these two countries saw that it is okay to do business in Israel. We are seeing much more interest from businessmen."