A report, published on the website of The New Yorker On Monday (the print edition of the magazine will be out on June 18), he said Israel and the UAE, two countries that have no official relations, have been secretly collaborating for more than two decades. Their covert cooperation was extremely close and included clandestine arms sales and intelligence sharing.
The article, which deals with the changing geopolitics of the Middle East, was written by Adam Entous, a national security correspondent for the Washington Post, who has been reporting to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal for more than two decades.
Officially, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have never had bilateral relations. The Emirati, an Arab federal state governed by an absolute monarchical system, does not recognize Israel as a country. As a result, the two Middle Eastern states do not have official diplomatic, economic or military relations.
Entous claims Israeli and Emirati officials have been meeting secretly for at least 24 years. He says the first clandestine meeting between the two sides took place in 1994 in Washington, after Abu Dhabi tried to purchase a number of American-made F-16 fighter jets. The United States warned the UAE that Israel would veto the deal, fearing that these fighter planes, in the hands of the Arabs, could eventually be used against them. But Israel did not veto. Motivated by the Oslo I Agreement, which it had signed the previous year, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin secretly reached the Emirates and offered "to discuss the matter directly" with them.
The first round of meetings between the two sides took place in an anonymous Washington office, ”says Entous. Israeli and Emirati officials were diametrically in disagreement on the Palestinian question, but were in complete agreement on the issue of Iran. Abu Dhabi saw Iran as a major threat to Middle East stability, and so did Israel. Following the secret meetings, Israel raised its objections to Washington's sale of the F-16s to the Emirates. This, says Entous, has helped to "build a sense of trust" between the two Middle Eastern countries. In the late 90s, there were allegedly secret meetings between Israeli and Emirati officials, which included the sharing of military, security and intelligence data.
The United Kingdom has been deepening in recent years, in response to the signing of the US-led Iran nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In his exposé, Entous cites is an Israeli official who says he has been working on the nuclear deal with Iran. US President of Barack Obama, US President of Barack Obama, US Secretary of State for the United States. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says the former US official. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The meeting was reportedly followed by phone calls and other exchanges between the two sides.
Entous says the secret relationship between Israel and the UAE has strengthened in recent years, in response to the signing of the US-led Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In its exposition, Entous quotes an (anonymous) Israeli official as saying that the two countries' strong opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran has led to "an increase in Arab-Israeli contacts in the Gulf" of all kinds.
Entous cites a former US State Department official (anonymous) who claims that, during the second term of US President Barack Obama's administration, US intelligence agencies have found evidence of at least one secret meeting between Israelis and the emirates. It is presumed to have taken place in Cyprus and to have included the participation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the former US official said. The meeting was reportedly followed by phone calls and other exchanges between the two sides, all with the aim of sabotaging the joint global action plan.
Entous notes in his report that both Israeli and Emirate officials deny the alleged secret meetings or any behind-the-scenes collaborations.
The US government has not yet reacted to the story of The New Yorker.