An Israel-U.A.E. Love Affair

Iran hit the United Arab Emirates harder in the recent war than any other Middle Eastern country. From February 28 to now, Iran has fired approximately 2,800 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones at the U.A.E. Israel, in comparison, received about 1,200. Why did Iran focus so much on the U.A.E.?

Since the 2020 Abraham Accords, the United Arab Emirates has become Israel’s closest Arab ally. Recent reports suggest Israel-U.A.E. cooperation is more intimate than previously assumed. Israel apparently sees the U.A.E. as trustworthy enough to grant access to some of Israel’s most sensitive defense systems. Will this alliance help or hinder Israel’s security?

Blood and Iron

Soon after Iran started the bombardment, according to an April 26 article by Axios, Israel gave the U.A.E. access to its famous Iron Dome defense system. Axios’s sources claimed that “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces to send an Iron Dome battery with interceptors and several dozen idf operators after a call with the [U.A.E.] President Mohammed bin Zayed.” This would be the first time Israel has ever sent an Iron Dome unit to a third party. One of Axios’s sources claimed the battery successfully intercepting “dozens” of missiles.

Israel’s assistance apparently wasn’t limited to the Iron Dome. On April 28, the Financial Times reported that Israel sent the U.A.E. a model of its Iron Beam system. Iron Beam intercepts rockets and drones by firing a laser at them. Israel has deployed the technology only since last December.

The Financial Times also claimed Israel lent the U.A.E. a unit of Spectro, a surveillance system, as well as other unspecified systems. Some of these were prototypes and not even fully integrated into Israel’s own defense network.

These systems came with many Israeli personnel. One of the Financial Times’s sources said Israel sent “not a small number of boots on the ground.”

With Friends Like These

The United Arab Emirates is one of the few Muslim countries in Israel’s vicinity that has kept relations close despite the storms. Because of this, Israel clings to the U.A.E. as an ally. But is it an ally worth having?

Media may portray the U.A.E. as an oasis of moderate, peaceful, even Western values amid more chaotic neighbors. This is false. Like Iran, the U.A.E. has its own network of proxies that it uses to destabilize the Middle East and surrounding area.

The biggest example of this is in Sudan.

Since 2023, Sudan has been in a civil war between the internationally recognized government and a rogue militia known as the Rapid Support Forces (rsf). Both sides have their fair share of war crimes accusations against them. But the rsf is by far the more notorious. The rsf is the successor of dictator Omar Bashir’s infamous Janjaweed (“devils on horseback”), who led his Darfur genocide 20 years ago. They still engage in mass slaughter. Last October, the rsf captured the Darfuri city of El Fasher and massacred an estimated 1,500 people within the first three days of occupation. The rsf shed so much blood in so short a time that images taken from space show the nearby Saharan sands stained red.

The rsf couldn’t function without heavy sponsorship from the United Arab Emirates. The rsf smuggles hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of gold to finance its work. Much of this gold goes to the U.A.E. Reports implicate U.A.E. “humanitarian missions” actually act as a cover for weapons sales. The U.A.E. also uses smuggling routes through countries such as Chad to supply the rsf. Thanks to the U.A.E., the rsf has heavy artillery, drone systems and guided missiles.

The rsf is the U.A.E.’s most notorious proxy, but it is not the only one. The U.A.E. also sponsors Yemeni rebels against the Yemeni government, even as that government is already fighting Iran’s Houthis. The U.A.E. also backs warlord Khalifa Haftar, who rules half of Libya.

Unlike Iran’s network, these proxies aren’t unified by Islamic extremism or other ideological cohesion. The U.A.E. is mainly seeking money and influence, but it is still responsible for several of the world’s ongoing political crises. In Sudan, it sponsors literal genocide.

The United Arab Emirates has a reputation that would normally scare off most Western nations. One would think Israel, whose entire modern history is based on constant wars with regimes like the U.A.E., of all countries would be wary. Yet none of this grizzly baggage seems to bother Israel. There is a reason for this.

Since its birth, Israel has been desperate to keep friendships in the Muslim world. Many of these efforts have been falling apart. Iran under the shah was a strong ally of Israel; that ended with the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel in 1948. For decades, even as Israel fought never-ending wars with its Arab neighbors, secular and democratic Turkey stood by its side. But today, Turkey has been under Islamist leadership for decades and is one of Israel’s most belligerent foes. Egypt was the first Arab state to make peace with Israel under President Anwar Sadat in 1978. Relations with Egypt are still functioning but not cordial.

Amid these fraying alliances, the U.A.E. appears not only stable but exceptional. Israel is desperate to keep this alliance intact, so it turns a blind eye to the U.A.E.’s unsavory international dealings. By turning a blind eye, Israel is providing the U.A.E. diplomatic cover. As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry commented after the Abraham Accords took place: “People want to view the Abraham Accords as evidence of newfound love between Gulf Arabs and the Jewish state. The reality [is that] this is a relationship of convenience, rooted in the need to counter the radical Islamic state of Iran.”

Beneath the Surface

Psalm 83 describes a group of Middle Eastern nations allying “that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (verse 4). Verses 6-8 list the alliance’s membership: “the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them ….”

Neither biblical nor secular history records an alliance like this ever forming. Because of this, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has shown this is a prophecy for today. He wrote in “Deadly Flaw in Mideast Peace Deals”:

The key to unlocking this prophecy is to know the modern descendants of these peoples. And God in this end time has supplied this key. Based on biblical and historical research and with God’s inspiration, Herbert W. Armstrong gave a good general idea of which nations these peoples correspond to today, equating the Ishmaelites with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, the Hagarenes with Syria, the Philistines with the Palestinians, Gebal and Tyre with Lebanon, Moab and Ammon with Jordan, and Edom and Amalek with Turkey.

Mr. Flurry declared the Abraham Accords “have a deadly flaw.” Unlike many Arab states, the United Arab Emirates doesn’t have a long history of warring against Israel. But Bible prophecy shows it will soon join this alliance, which has the goal of blotting out the name of Israel! This is the country Israel is becoming intimate with.

Iron Dome and Iron Beam are among Israel’s core defense systems. If it weren’t for Iron Dome, especially, many Israeli towns would have been flattened by Hamas and Hezbollah rockets years ago. There is a reason Israel has been reluctant to share this technology. Yet if the reports are accurate, Israel sent these systems almost immediately to the U.A.E., giving it unique insights into how they work and their weaknesses. Even more, Israel has reportedly sent prototype systems that still need to be integrated at home.

In short, the U.A.E. probably has a better idea than any other country of the ins and outs of Israel’s main defenses. If any country wanted to sabotage these systems, the United Arab Emirates would be in the best position to do so. And Israel volunteered this information to a country responsible for modern-day genocide.

“While it seems that these nations are moving away from radicalism and violence, we must look beneath the surface,” Mr. Flurry wrote. “After all, this prophecy reveals that they will take ‘crafty counsel’—subtle and shrewd dealing. This sure prophecy shows that these nations will ally to try to blot out the name of Israel forever! That is intense hatred! … Yet Israel appears blind to the dangers of this alliance.”

Israel may think an alliance with the United Arab Emirates will increase its security. The reality is that Israel is walking into a trap of its own devising.

To learn more, read Mr. Flurry’s article “Deadly Flaw in Mideast Peace Deals.”