UAE Profits as Palestine Burns

Over the previous month, the whole world has witnessed the Palestine- Israeli crisis with heavy hearts. As everyone knows by now, this particular crisis has occurred due to the rights of ownership of housing units and certain properties located in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. Israeli government allow its citizens to file a claim of ownership over the Sheikh Jarrah properties which they had ownership of before 1948 but at the same time, refuse to acknowledge Palestinian claims of ownership over property in Israel which the people of Palestine previously owned. The conflict was extremely violent which consequently led to the death of 256 Palestinian citizens. According to various reports, as of 19 May, 72000 Palestinians were displaced. The 11-day war eventually came to an end after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect on 21 May 2021.

How is the UAE involved in this conflict?

The United Arab Emirates has interfered in the Israel- Palestine situation and has ‘generously’ offered to mediate and settle the dispute between the two nations. But are the UAE’s intentions as pure as it seems? UAE’s position as alleged mediator is not out of a desire for peace and stability in both the countries but ‘billions of dollars in potential business deals’ are behind the scenes.

A couple of days after it was reported that Israel’s ambassador to the UAE was present at the Arabian Peninsula’s first permanent exhibition which was held in memory of the Holocaust victims in Dubai, the news of the UAE’s position in the Israel- Palestine conflict broke out.

As first reported on 30 May by the Emirates News Agency, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s de facto ruler, decided to offer to mediate talks between citizens of both the nations in a call with Mr Abdel Fattah, the president of Egypt.

As stated by many sources, following the agreements, Israel has agreed ‘not to annex parts of the occupied West Bank’. However, no commitments or resolutions in the matter of the Israel-Palestine conflict was obligatory before economic and diplomatic cooperation between the parties could begin.

The UAE, undoubtedly, is facing a lot of pressure from its neighbouring nations to express and show support for the Palestinian people. However, the UAE is not likely to negate any business deals with Israel.

What are these potentially profitable deals?

As indicated in various reports published by Aljazeera, these potential deals are based on future investments. In April of 2021, a sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co which is reportedly worth $232 billion, indicated its intentions to shell out at least 1.1 billion dollars to purchase a stake in a natural gas field in Israel. Various reports have labelled the above-mentioned deal as ‘ the biggest potential deal yet’.

Moreover, these potential deals will also prove to be instrumental and of utmost importance in strengthening the Israel- UAE relations. However, it is vital to note that both countries benefit from each other in some way as both of them produce goods needed by the other. It is no secret that Israel is a major agricultural producer and the UAE imports much of its food items. Furthermore, the UAE is a huge producer of goods that are fueled by energy which Israel takes advantage of. In addition, both the countries have included each other in their list of must-visit destinations for their citizens.

Moving on, various reports state that the intelligence minister of Israel boasted about how ‘ the trade between the UAE and Israel would reach $4bn within three to five years back in September of 2020.

Just a mere weeks after a memorandum of understanding in context to the gas field deal was signed by Mubadala, news broke of the intrusion of Israeli soldiers in the Al- Aqsa Mosque and how they fired tear gas at the people of Palestine in the infamous Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood which provoked the UAE to comment on the heartbreaking situation.

The UAE’s government subtly condemned the violence, as the minister of state for international cooperation stressed: “the need for the Israeli authorities to assume their responsibilities — under international law — to protect Palestinian civilians’ right to practice their religion and to preserve the historical and legal identity of occupied East Jerusalem”.

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