The alliance between Israel and the Emirates is consolidated beyond diplomacy

Cooperation between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has taken a qualitative leap. What began with Tel Aviv would also have sent an advanced surveillance system known as Spectro to help Abu Dhabi detect Iranian drones at a distance of up to twenty kilometers. According to a source cited by the same newspaper, Israel also sent other unspecified weapons systems. "It is not a minor deployment on the ground," he stated. Although many of these pieces of equipment would be prototypes, the most relevant thing is that these are the first documented cases of direct military cooperation between the two countries.These revelations came after the American outlet Axios reported that Israel had deployed an Iron Dome battery in the Emirates and sent several dozen soldiers to operate it. According to this outlet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered its deployment after a conversation with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed. Since the start of the war, Israeli and Emirati authorities have admitted close coordination in the military and political spheres.The fact that Israel has sent a version of its laser system reinforces the idea that normalization between the two countries, following the Abraham Accords, is no longer just political or economic, but is beginning to crystallize into an emerging regional security architecture. All this points to an unprecedented level of trust between the Israeli state and a Gulf monarchy.“The relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates are very strong”, Neil Quilliam, a researcher for the Middle East and North Africa program at the international analysis center Chatham House, explains to ARA. “The current conflict with Iran has shown how strong the ties between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi are, and all indications are that they will be strengthened in this new security paradigm that is crossing the region”.Iran, the shared threat

Both Israel and the United Arab Emirates perceive Tehran as a threat, especially after the latest round of confrontations. Between February 28 and April 8, Iran launched approximately 550 missiles and over 2,200 drones, making the Emirates the most attacked country in the region, according to the Emirati Ministry of Defense. Although most of the projectiles were intercepted, some managed to hit and cause damage, such as the impacts on the Al Taweelah aluminum plant in Abu Dhabi.“Cooperation indicates that the Emirates and Israel share the same perception of regional threat: Iran represents a constant and real danger to the well-being of both states and the region as a whole”, describes the expert. “Their priority is to face this threat head-on. In contrast, other Gulf countries, although very annoyed with Iran, believe that regional security can only be guaranteed by reaching some kind of accommodation with Tehran, rather than confronting it militarily”, adds Quilliam. Along these lines, Abu Dhabi has made it clear that it wants to deepen ties with Israel and the United States, has criticized the response of other Arab actors to Iran, and has shown that the region is being reconfigured.According to the expert, we are already seeing a regional realignment in which Israel and the Emirates are working closely together, while Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan are drawing closer to manage their interests; and Oman and Qatar are intensifying their mediation efforts to try to end the war.Break with Saudi Arabia

In this context, the Emirates' decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+, the organizations of oil-producing countries that coordinate crude production and prices globally, also evidences the shift in the region. This departure has broken with years of coordination with Saudi Arabia, the other major leader in the Gulf. Now this divergence is also becoming visible in the relationship with Israel: while the Emirates have opted decisively for normalization and cooperation in security matters, Saudi Arabia maintains a more cautious position, conditioned by internal and religious factors that raise the cost of a formal approach.The result is a Middle East in transformation, where alliances are no longer defined solely by historical affinities, but also by shared perceptions of threat and shared energy and economic interests.