The War’s Consequences on Israel-United Arab Emirates Relations and the Normalization Agreement With Saudi Arabia

The wartime webinar series by Tel Aviv University Alumni Organization, led by Sigalit Ben Hayoun, continues, and this time, with a panel on the topic of "The War’s Consequences on Israel-United Arab Emirates Relations and the Normalization Agreement With Saudi Arabia".

The panelists:

• Dr. Yoel Guzansky - senior researcher and head of both the Gulf Program and The Regional Arena at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C. (a former Visiting Fellow at Stanford University, and senior member of Israel's National Security Council), and an alumnus of Tel Aviv University Social Sciences Faculty.

• Dr. Moran Zaga - United Arab Emirates researcher, lecturer at the Hebrew University, policy fellow at the Mitvim Institute, and an alumna of Tel Aviv University Humanities Faculty.

• Dr. Brandon Friedman - senior researcher at The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and an alumnus of Tel Aviv University Humanities Faculty.

The panel moderator:

• Dr. Michal Yaari - Gulf States Researcher at Tel Aviv University, and an alumna of the University Social Sciences Faculty.

Dr. Yoel Guzansky noted that:

"The Gulf states (without Qatar) want to end the rule of Hamas to weaken the Iranian axis and damage the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. They will be ready to take part  in "the day after" in a reality in which the US will continue to be actively involved in the region, Hamas is defeated and there is a political horizon."

Dr. Moran Zaga stated that:

"The United Arab Emirates acts with "the day after" in mind and aspires to see a political horizon in which it has a significant role. It is still involved today in the Gaza Strip in humanitarian activities and important infrastructures such as water desalination, it promotes the Palestinian issue in the UN Security Council and leverages its relationship with Israel for broad and long-term policy goals. However, its ambition is to be a more significant player given a moderate Palestinian leadership in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority. They began to cooperate more significantly with Qatar, which until recently operated in competition. The new arrangements may include a new dimension of Gulf cooperation over individual states' activities in certain areas.'

Dr. Brandon Friedman said that:

"The attack by Hamas on October 7 was also an attack on Saudi interests; first and foremost, the defense pact with the Americans that was at the heart of the normalization plan between Israel and Saudi Arabia."

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