The United Arab Emirates may downgrade its diplomatic ties with Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government annexes part or all of the West Bank, but it is not weighing the option of severing the relationship completely, according to three sources briefed on the Gulf Arab state’s deliberations.
This is despite Emirati foreign ministry official Lana Nusseibeh telling The Times of Israel on September 3 that any annexation would be a “red line,” jeopardize the Abraham Accords, and end the pursuit of regional integration.
UAE is one of just a few Arab states with diplomatic relations with Israel and downgrading ties would be a major setback for the Abraham Accords — a signature foreign policy achievement of US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.
Israel’s government has recently taken steps that could presage annexation of the West Bank, which was captured along with East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. The United Nations and most countries oppose such a move.
For Netanyahu, whose coalition relies on right-wing nationalist parties, annexation could be seen as a valuable vote-winner before an election expected next year.
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Not all ties likely to be cut, source says
Abu Dhabi warned Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition this month that any annexation of the West Bank would be a “red line” for the Gulf state, but did not say what measures could follow.
The UAE, which established ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, was considering withdrawing its ambassador in any response, the sources told Reuters.
The sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abu Dhabi was not considering completely severing ties, although tensions have mounted during the almost two-year-old Gaza war that was triggered by the Palestinian terror group Hamas on October 7, 2023, when it led a devastating invasion of southern Israel.
From left, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-US president Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, sit during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, September 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A source in Israel said the government believed it could repair its strained ties with the UAE, a major commercial center seen as the most significant of the Arab states to establish ties with Israel in 2020. The others were Bahrain and Morocco.
No other Arab state has since established formal ties with Israel, which also has diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan established previously, and direct contacts with Qatar though without full diplomatic recognition.
Israeli companies barred from UAE airshow
In a sign of growing tension with Israel, the Gulf state last week decided to bar Israeli defense companies from exhibiting at the Dubai Airshow in November, three of the sources said. Two other sources, an Israeli official and an Israeli defense industry executive, confirmed the decision.
Israel’s Defense Ministry said it had been made aware of the decision but did not elaborate. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi said discussions over Israel’s participation in the weeklong trade show, the UAE’s flagship aerospace and defense event, were continuing.
While the official statements said the decision was due to security considerations, senior officials in Israel claimed the reason behind the ban was the Israeli Air Force’s strike in Qatar against the top leadership of Hamas, the Ynet news outlet reported at the time. Gulf countries have since expressed their condemnation of the attack and solidarity with Qatar.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conferene at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerursalem, September 16, 2025. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)
The UAE foreign ministry did not respond to questions on whether it was weighing downgrading diplomatic ties with Israel.
The spokesperson at the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi said that Israel was committed to the Abraham Accords and that it would continue to work to strengthen ties with the UAE.
Nusseibeh, of the Emirati foreign ministry, had told The Times of Israel and Reuters on September 3 that any annexation of the West Bank would jeopardize the Abraham Accords and end the pursuit of regional integration.
That warning preceded Israel’s airstrike on Qatar last week, which targeted Hamas leaders, an attack that Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, condemned as treacherous.
At an emergency meeting of Muslim nations in Qatar convened in response to the strike, a communique was issued urging countries to review diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.
As part of the Abraham Accords, Netanyahu promised to hold off on annexing the West Bank for four years. But that deadline has passed, and some Israeli ministers are now pressing for action.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gestures toward a map of the West Bank during a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem, September 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this month said that maps were being drawn up to annex most of the West Bank, urging Netanyahu to accept the plan. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, also backs annexing the territory.
Ties with Israel deteriorated after 2023
After establishing ties, the UAE and Israel built a close relationship, focusing on economic, security, and intelligence cooperation. This followed years of discreet contacts.
But differences began emerging after Netanyahu returned to power in 2023 at the head of what has been described as the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. Abu Dhabi has condemned repeated efforts by Ben-Gvir to alter the status quo of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, also called the Al Aqsa compound, to allow Jews to be able to pray there. The site is sacred to Muslims and Jews, and at present, non-Muslims can visit but cannot pray.
The UAE has also criticized Israel’s policies in the West Bank and its military operation in Gaza, which began in October 2023 after the Hamas-led massacre of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during the terror group’s invasion of southern Israel.
Abu Dhabi has said that an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel was necessary for regional stability. Netanyahu this month declared there will never be a Palestinian state.
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