Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Anwar Gargash addressed Iranian aggression and Turkish hypocrisy as motive for the UAE’s new ties with Israel.
While the new diplomatic relationship between Israel and the UAE certainly seems unprecedented in several ways, there are also many reasons that make good sense as to why the UAE was willing to make such a move. According to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, it was the aggression of Iran and the hypocrisy of Turkey that pushed the UAE to reconsider its relationship with the Jewish State.
While there is an overwhelming trail of evidence concerning Iran and Turkey’s hostile nature, one only needs to look at the way the two countries responded when the UAE announced its normalization of ties with Israel. Iran issued immediate threats (which they also did to Bahrain), and Turkey threatened to completely cut all ties with the UAE. Both countries accused the UAE of being ‘backstabbers’ to the Arab world.
Despite the UAE’s political disagreements with Israeli PM Netanyahu, Gargash stated, “…we need to open channels of communications because the Arab experience of having no communication with Israel has not really yielded any results.” He even went as far as saying that he believes the Palestinians will eventually come to appreciate the political shift in the Middle East.
What the leaders of the UAE – and now several other countries – are experiencing is the reality that the Arab World has failed them. Furthermore, they’re already experiencing the benefits of an alliance with Israel – and it’s only just the beginning.
