THE United Arab Emirates warned has Israel that annexation in the occupied West Bank would constitute a “red line” for Abu Dhabi that would severely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords that normalised UAE-Israeli relations, reported Reuters.
The comments by the UAE, the most prominent of the three Arab states that signed the accords with Israel when President Donald Trump was first in office, amounted to Abu Dhabi’s strongest criticism of Israel since the Gaza war erupted in 2023, when Hamas launched its cross-border raid from the enclave.
Trump has been seeking to expand the accords, but efforts so far to draw in others, including Saudi Arabia, hit the buffers amid growing international criticism in the Arab world, Europe and beyond of the way Israel has conducted the war.
In August, Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that work would start on a longdelayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, a move his office said would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank, as well as allies and campaign groups condemned the project, calling it illegal and saying the fragmentation of territory would rip up any peace plans for the region. Smotrich has also called for annexing the West Bank.
Under the Abraham Accords, signed during President Trump’s first term, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco normalised diplomatic relations with Israel following U.S. mediation
Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE, told Reuters, “From the very beginning, we viewed the Accords as a way to enable our continued support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspiration for an independent state. “We call on the Israeli government to suspend these (settlement) plans. Extremists of any kind cannot be allowed to dictate the region’s trajectory. Peace requires courage, persistence and a refusal to let violence define our choices.”
Nusseibeh added that “annexation in the West Bank would constitute a red line for the UAE” as it would severely undermine “the vision and spirit” of the Abraham Accords and end the pursuit of regional integration. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the UAE’s remarks. Under the Abraham Accords, signed during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco normalised diplomatic relations with Israel following U.S. mediation.
