TEL AVIV: The diplomatic opening between Israel and the UAE has had two contradictory effects.
On the one hand, Israel sees the emirates as a potential customer for Israeli-developed weapon systems. On the other, Jerusalem is pressing Washington to keep Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME),
Meanwhile, the U.S is mediating diplomatic normalization agreements with several other Arab countries. Before leaving Israel Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who visited Israel yesterday, announced his aircraft will perform a first direct flight from Ben Gurion Airport to the airport in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. To date, almost all aircraft taking off from Israel for Sudan or any other Muslim country that does not have relations with Israel have been required to stop briefly at an airport in Jordan or Egypt.
According to an American source, Sudan offered the direct flight rights “to remove the need for a cosmetic stop.”
Pompeo made carefully parsed remarks about possible arms sales to the UAE and other Arab countries who might agree to diplomatic relations with Israel. There’s been some controversy in Israel over whether the US should sell F-35s to the UAE. As we’ve reported, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu quietly approved the sale while publicly worrying about it.
“The US has legal requirements with respect to the QME, and we will respect that,” Pompeo said. “We have a 20-plus-year security relationship with the UAE, as well.”
Without mentioning F-35s or any other systems by name, Pompeo said the US wants to “make sure we are delivering the equipment [the UAE] needs to defend themselves from the threat of the Islamic Republic” of Iran.
But he said he is “sure we’ll find a way” to do so while ensuring Israel’s continuing military superiority in the region.
Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said the normalization deal with the UAE “did not include Israel’s acceptance to any arms deal. I don’t know of any arms deal that has been agreed upon, but our position hasn’t changed.”
In the meantime, it seems that not only the Americans are interested in selling advanced weapons to the UAE:
Israeli defense figures who talked with BD on condition of anonymity said the sale of the F-35 to UAE would change the power balance in the region, but not necessarily against Israel, “as the unwritten pact between the U.S, UAE and Israel is stronger. That will prevent Russia putting a heavy foot in the region in the form of advanced weapon systems,” one said.
The source explained that when the U.S and Israel become major suppliers of defense systems to the UAE and other countries in the region, Russia and China will become redundant as defense systems suppliers: “Russia and China are sometimes uncontrolled suppliers of military hardware. This will be avoided when the systems will come from the U.S and Israel.”
The question now is will Israel allow the sale of very advanced defense systems to the UAE, immediately after the normalization agreement is signed, or, only after an evaluation period that will prove how the agreement works in fact.
The F-35 deal is just the tip of the iceberg. According to Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonot, there is an ongoing struggle between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Defense. The daily claims that Mossad backs the prime minister’ office, which isn’t completely surprising.
According to the daily, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Mossad have been trying for more than two years to convince the ministry to approve the sale of more defense equipment, which includes not only intelligence capabilities but also sophisticated and highly accurate offensive weapons.
But the Israeli daily says the UAE has been enjoying a supply of highly classified Israeli military equipment for more than eight years. The door opened immediately after the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in 2010. He was the chief of logistics and weapons procurement for Hamas‘s military wing. He was killed in a Dubai luxury hotel.
According to the local police, al-Mabhouh was drugged, electrocuted and then suffocated with a pillow. The consensus is that he was killed by Israeli Mossad agents.
Foreign sources claim that since the assassination relations between the UAE and Israel have tightened with the Mossad serving as a leading element. Last week, head of Mossad Yosi Cohen arrived at Dubai and met with high-ranking officials.
The exposure of the normalization agreement between the UAE and Israel has revealed some of the defense deals the two countries plan. One proposed deal was the sale of an Italian-made two engine aircraft that Israeli company Aeronautics turned into a drone. After the deal was agreed to, the Israeli Ministry of Defense vetoed it.
Other deals were completed. After video cameras recorded the assassins in Dubai, the international media claimed that the security video system was built by an Israeli company.