UAE sets “red lines” in strong condemnation of Israel’s West Bank actions

The United Arab Emirates has formally warned Israel that any annexation of the West Bank would cross a red line for Abu Dhabi and severely damage the spirit of the Abraham Accords.

This stark statement was delivered by Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE, in her interview with Reuters, as Caliber.Az reports.

The official’s stance represents the UAE’s most severe criticism of Israel since the Gaza war erupted in 2023, a notable shift for one of the few Arab nations that had normalized relations with Tel Aviv prior to October 7 through the Abraham Accords.

"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. [...] That was our position in 2020, and it remains our position today," she said.

Her comments relate to plans publicly announced by Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in August to begin work on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and isolate it from East Jerusalem and effectively "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state.

“Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government,” Smotrich, who according to Israeli media is also a minister in the Defence Ministry responsible for the West Bank civilian issues, said on August 13.

His presentation caused widespread outrage not only by the Palestinian government and advocacy groups but from governments across the world, which condemned the initiative as illegal and warned that it would destroy any prospects for peace in the region.

"We call on the Israeli government to suspend these 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 emphasized.

The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 during US President Donald Trump’s first term, paved the way for normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. The accords were named after the biblical Abraham, regarded as a shared ancestor of both Jews and Arabs, symbolizing a gesture of brotherhood. While Saudi Arabia and Syria had expressed strong interest in joining the accords, the onset of the Gaza war and the resulting regional instability brought any progress on expanding the agreement with further Arab nations to a standstill.

By Nazrin Sadigova