meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Gaza conflict tests UAE-Israel ties

13 June 2024

 

The stance of the UAE towards Israel has cooled dramatically in the past eight months amid the conflict in Gaza, which is proving to be a major test of the partnership built between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.

From boasting of warm and open trade dealings, the UAE has gone quiet on its business deals with Israeli partners, while on a political and diplomatic level the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza has increasingly drawn condemnatory statements from UAE officials.

It is a twist in developments that neither country could have foreseen, as nor indeed had Saudi Arabia, which was nearing its own normalisation agreement with Israel. It has also taken a bilateral strategic partnership that was long in the making into uncertain territory.

Long-term partnership

The 2020 Abraham Accords that normalised relations between the UAE and Israel came at the tail end of at least a decade’s worth of interaction between the two countries. The agreement emerged first and foremost as a set of shared strategic interests in opposition to regional threats in the early 2010s.

In a very tangible interaction in 2016, pilots from the UAE and Israel for the first time participated together in aerial combat training exercises hosted by the United States Air Force (USAF) in Nevada.

The UAE’s relationship with Israel also intersects with its relationship with the US, including its hope of securing access to advanced US military technology and assets, such as the F-35 Stealth Fighter Jet.

In September 2020, UAE foreign ministry spokesperson Hend Al-Otaiba stated that a request for the F-35 had been made six years previously, and that, “given that the UAE intends to be a partner to Israel, and already has a deep strategic partnership with the US, we are hopeful the request will be granted”.

While the sale of the F-35 by the US to the UAE has yet to materialise, relations between the UAE and Israel have nonetheless thrived on their own since the accords, on the basis of ongoing shared security interests and the opportunities for business, trade and investment between the two countries.

Since 2020, the value of trade between the UAE and Israel has swollen to about $3bn annually, and defence ties have only strengthened. In 2022, Israel supplied the UAE with air defence systems following long-range attacks on the UAE's oil infrastructure by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen.

Israel-Palestine problems

It was as early as June 2023, however, that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken first warned that rising tensions in Palestine and Israel’s actions in the West Bank could imperil the process of normalisation.

With the advent of the war in Gaza, those fears of a damaging escalation in tensions have been realised.

As the conflict erupted in October, the UAE kept its distance and restricted itself to only the most limited commentary, condemning the “serious and grave escalation” by Hamas-led militants while calling for the full protection of all civilians under international humanitarian law.

By November, as the violence in Gaza ratcheted up, Abu Dhabi similarly affirmed its commitment to the accords even as individual UAE officials publicly condemned Israel’s actions and called for an end to the violence, pushing for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and the release of hostages.

Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the president, labelled the conflict a “profound setback” for the region, and stressed that the tragic course of events should lead to a political re-engagement on the issues of realising a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The close working relationship between the UAE and Israel nevertheless continued, as evidenced by Israel’s acquiescence to Abu Dhabi’s humanitarian efforts in Gaza, which have included the UAE setting up a field hospital and performing aerial aid drops in the territory.

The long grind of the conflict and the increasing inflexibility and intransigence on ceasefire negotiations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have nevertheless steadily eroded this early good will.

While in early January, Gargash affirmed that the normalisation agreement was “a strategic decision, and strategic decisions are long-term”, by late January, senior UAE officials were ringing alarm bells.

Four months on, speaking at the Arab Media Forum in Dubai in late May, Gargash lambasted the conflict in Gaza as having taken on “brutal and inhuman dimensions”, stating that the “heinous attack in Gaza and Rafah cannot be overlooked” – a far more critical tone than his earlier conciliatory speech.

Unreliable partner

On the international stage, the disinclination of the Israeli government to listen to any of its key allies or partners has been trying for all, including the US. For Israel’s normalised partners in the Middle East, the conflict has underscored the tension between the Abraham Accords and underlying regional sentiments.

The UAE’s own founding father, Sheikh Zayed, was an ardent personal supporter of the Palestinian cause, and under his watch, the UAE was one of the first states to recognise Palestine as an independent state.

In the present, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is drawing the competing influences of the UAE’s contemporary strategic interests and underlying sympathy for the Palestinian people into stark relief, and it is having a chilling effect on relations.

Public announcements in the UAE of deals with Israeli companies, which abounded before the conflict, have evaporated, and at least one very public deal has been put on hold amid the uncertainty.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) had been due to take a $2bn stake, alongside the UK’s BP, in Israeli gas producer NewMed, which holds 45% of Israel’s Leviathan offshore gas field.

In mid-May, Netanyahu suggested that the UAE could be involved in the governance of Gaza – drawing a swift rejection from UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who stated: “The UAE refuses to be drawn into any plan aimed at providing cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip.”

The episode was a stark demonstration of the breakdown in communication and diplomatic alignment between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, and it joins a wider pattern of reports that UAE officials are already looking beyond Netanyahu and cultivating relations with his potential successors.

On 5 June, the UAE’s foreign minister again condemned the Israeli government after it allowed the divisive annual ‘Flag March’ of Israeli settlers through Jerusalem’s old city, as well as settler activism in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, despite the extraordinarily heightened tensions over Gaza.

For UAE-Israel ties to thrive, Abu Dhabi needs a government partner in Tel Aviv that it can work with on a productive basis to safeguard interests between the two countries while avoiding diplomatic affronts.

Unfortunately for the UAE, the current Israeli government – with the far-right ministers that Netanyahu has brought into the cabinet – has had a habit of proving itself to be the very antithesis of such a partner.

Looking ahead, it could be a long road for UAE-Israel ties to return to resembling their halcyon state of 2021-22, and it will take a government in Israel under someone other than Netanyahu to get there.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11898933/main.gif
John Bambridge

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Firms submit King Salman airport project prequalifications

    8 July 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman International Airport Development Company (KSIADC) received prequalification statements on 1 July from contractors for two new packages at King Salman International airport (KSIA) in Riyadh.

    These include the construction of a permanent East-West corridor and landside access roads serving the North and South terminals.

    The scope covers the construction of roads, bridges and tunnels.

    The client is expected to float the tenders soon.

    The latest development follows KSIADC's selection of three groups to deliver the Terminal 6 apron, taxiways and other airfield infrastructure at KSIA.

    KSIADC, which is backed by Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle the Public Investment Fund, will initially deliver the project on an early contractor involvement basis.

    In March, MEED exclusively reported that KSIADC had selected three groups for the construction of Terminal 6.

    In November last year, MEED reported that KSIADC was targeting mid-2026 to award the contract for the construction of Terminal 6.

    MEED reported in May 2025 that US firm Bechtel Corporation had been appointed as the delivery partner for the terminals at KSIA.

    According to local media reports, KSIADC’s acting CEO, Marco Mejia, said the project developer has completed the project’s masterplan.

    The reports added that Terminal 6 will boost the airport’s capacity by 40 million passengers.

    The project is expected to be delivered before the start of Expo 2030 Riyadh.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17588533/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • WEBINAR: Saudi Giga Projects: Market Update for Q3 2026

    8 July 2026

    Webinar: Saudi Giga Projects: Market Update for Q3 2026 
    Tuesday 21 July 2026 | 11:00 AM GST  |  Register now

    Agenda:

    • Saudi projects market outlook and giga projects update
    • 2026 contract awards, project activity and market performance
    • Giga project reprioritisation, funding allocation and delivery progress
    • Key project announcements, milestones and market developments to watch
    • Major contracts awarded across construction, infrastructure and utilities
    • Upcoming tenders and contract award opportunities over the next 6–12 months
    • Geopolitical risks and their impact on project execution and investment
    • Progress across NEOM, The Red Sea, Diriyah, Qiddiya and New Murabba
    • Major non-giga project opportunities and growth sectors across Saudi Arabia
    • Short-, medium- and long-term outlook for the Saudi projects market
    • Audience Q&A

    Hosted by: Yasir Iqbal, MEED's construction editor

    Click here to register

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17588750/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Genel Energy buys Egypt-focused oil company for $360m

    8 July 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    UK-listed Genel Energy has agreed to acquire Egypt-focused Capricorn Energy in a $360m all-cash deal.

    Genel said the acquisition will combine its Kurdistan production base with Capricorn’s portfolio of Egyptian oil and gas assets.

    The company also said the deal will allow it to obtain production in a country with a “well-established regulatory regime, stable contracts and attractive fiscal terms”.

    Several approvals are still required before the acquisition can be finalised.

    In a statement, Genel said: “Genel’s strategy is to build a business with resilient diversified cash flows that deliver sustainable value to shareholders.

    “The Genel board and Genel management are resolute in their belief that this can best be achieved through strategic acquisitions, which add substantial high-quality producing assets to its existing portfolio.”

    Genel’s existing oil and gas assets include its 25% non-operated working interest in the Tawke PSC in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

    The company said this asset generated working interest production averaging 17,520 barrels a day (b/d) of oil in 2025 and had operating costs of around $4 a barrel.

    The combined group is expected to hold reserves of 117 million barrels of oil equivalent and production of 41,003 b/d.

    Capricorn is headquartered in Edinburgh and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange for more than 30 years.

    Its core operations are in Egypt’s Western Desert region, where it holds onshore development and production assets.

    In May 2025, Capricorn agreed with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation to consolidate eight of its 50:50 jointly owned concessions into a single integrated licence with enhanced commercial terms. Capricorn announced in March 2026 that it had received formal parliamentary ratification of the agreement.

    The deal has been announced at a time when Genel is seeing frequent disruption to operations at its assets in Iraqi Kurdistan.

    Production was temporarily suspended at the Tawke field in February after the US and Israel attacked Iran, increasing security concerns in the wider region.

    While the security situation is understood to have improved in the Iraqi Kurdistan region and many oil companies have resumed operations, there are now concerns that the Iraq-Turkiye Pipeline could be shut due to an agreement between the two countries expiring later this month.

    If the pipeline does stop operations, it will negatively impact Genel as it is the main route through which the company’s Iraqi oil is exported.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17587599/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Saudi Arabia eyes investors for $136m ferris wheel project

    7 July 2026

    Saudi Arabia is seeking investors to fund a SR511m ($136m) ferris wheel project, known as the Hijaz Eye.

    The project will be located in Medina and will cover an area of more than 33,000 square metres (sq m).

    According to information listed on the Invest Saudi platform, a database of about 2,200 state investment opportunities, the project is expected to have a significant impact on the local economy, offering an internal rate of return (IRR) of over 25%, with a payback period of seven years.

    The tender prospectus does not disclose the ferris wheel's height.

    The pitch to investors describes it as "the best destination to get a bird's eye view of the city", and frames it as an attraction aimed at pilgrims, with the project designed to "enrich the experience of pilgrims" and address a "growing need to increase cultural communication among pilgrims".

    The Hijaz Eye project is part of a broader initiative to establish Saudi Arabia as a leading tourism hub in the Middle East, and reflects Riyadh's growing push to lean on private capital, rather than public financing, for large-scale tourism infrastructure.

    Ain Dubai parallels

    The Hijaz Eye would not be the first giant observation wheel to be built in the region. The UAE's Ain Dubai, on Bluewaters Island, is currently the world's tallest observation wheel, standing 250 metres high – nearly twice the height of the London Eye.

    It is designed to carry up to 1,750 visitors in 48 air-conditioned cabins.

    Ain Dubai's budget was originally estimated at about $272m. The attraction opened in October 2021, coinciding with Expo 2020 Dubai.

    The project used about 9,000 tonnes of steel, more than was used in the construction of the Eiffel Tower, and required some of the world's largest cranes to lift its 1,805-tonne hub and spindle assembly, which is comparable in weight to four Airbus A380 aircraft.

    Despite its scale, Ain Dubai's post-opening record has been uneven. The attraction has closed and reopened several times since its debut, including a widely publicised reopening in December 2024.

    For the Hijaz Eye, the experience of Ain Dubai underlines a message that operational reliability will be central to whether the project can deliver on its projected 25%-plus IRR.

    Project positioning

    The Hijaz Eye is being positioned as an anchor for a specific strategic gap, which includes extending the time and spending of religious visitors to Medina beyond prayer and pilgrimage.

    Domestic and religious tourism sit at the core of the kingdom's Vision 2030 strategy, and the numbers underline why Medina, rather than a leisure hub like Riyadh or Jeddah, is a logical testing ground for private-capital tourism infrastructure.

    In 2025, Saudi Arabia's Tourism Ministry recorded 14 million overseas visitors that visited the kingdom for religious purposes, roughly twice the number of leisure travellers and seven times that of business travellers.

    A further 14 million domestic tourists travelled for religious purposes, of which 6.5 million visited Medina specifically.

    Image credit: www.cranebriefing.com

    READ THE JULY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Stress test for Gulf aviation; Mixed performance as country outlooks diverge in the Levant; GCC tourism sector pivots from crisis to recovery mode.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17576184/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Worley announces Aramco project management consultancy deal

    7 July 2026

    Australian engineering firm Worley has announced it has been awarded a long-term agreement (LTA) by Saudi Aramco to support its projects within Saudi Arabia, mainly by providing project management consultancy (PMC) services.

    The five-year agreement is intended to support Aramco’s extensive capital programme – one of the largest sources of project investment globally, across the energy, chemicals and resources sectors, Worley said in a statement.

    Under the LTA, Worley will provide PMC services, including engineering and design, project development studies, detailed engineering, procurement support, project and construction management and technical expertise. It will also support capability building for local talent in Saudi Arabia.

    Worley was one of 11 local and foreign engineering firms selected by Aramco to create a new pool of PMC service providers, MEED reported in May.

    The Saudi energy giant signed LTAs with several companies for the PMC service providers pool at a ceremony at its Dhahran headquarters on 30 April. The agreements have a duration of five years, with an option to extend for a further three years. These companies were:

    • Engineers India (India)
    • Fluor (US)
    • IDOM (Spain)
    • KBR (US)
    • Kent (UAE)
    • Sinopec (China) / Sinopec Nanjing Engineering Company (China)
    • SNC Lavalin Fayez Engineering (Saudi Arabia) + McDermott (US)
    • Technip Energies (France)
    • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain) / TR Saudia (local branch)
    • Wood (UAE)
    • Worley (Australia)

    “Importantly, this agreement supports Aramco to ensure critical infrastructure for ongoing energy, chemicals and resources supply for the domestic market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as global markets,” Sydney-headquartered Worley said in a statement.

    Services will be delivered through Worley’s offices in Saudi Arabia and the UK, with support from global offices including the Global Integrated Delivery team.

    “The agreement requires Worley to leverage its digital capabilities, including artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, digital twins, robotics and automation, digital scanning, and smart energy solutions, to improve engineering delivery efficiency in compliance with Aramco’s engineering and information security standards,” the Australian Securities Exchange-listed company added.

    Pool of brownfield EPC contractors

    In addition to selecting firms for its PMC services pool, Aramco also created a group of brownfield engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors.

    Aramco awarded LTAs to the following 18 contractors for the brownfield EPC services at the same ceremony in Dhahran on 30 April:

    • Abdulhasan Group (Saudi Arabia)
    • Archirodon (Greece)
    • Bin Quraya (Saudi Arabia)
    • China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (China)
    • Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (Egypt)
    • Engineering Procurement & Project Management (Tunisia)
    • Gas Arabian Services (Saudi Arabia)
    • GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea) / GS Construction Arabia (local branch)
    • Kalpataru Projects International (India)
    • Kent (UAE)
    • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
    • M R Al-Khathlan Company for Contracting (Saudi Arabia)
    • Max Streicher (Germany/Italy)
    • National Basics Company (Saudi Arabia)
    • New Horizons Contracting & Maintenance Company (Saudi Arabia)
    • Sinopec (China) / Sinopec Nanjing Engineering Company (China)
    • Technip Energies (France)
    • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain) / TR Saudia (local branch)

    The scope of services covered under the LTA for brownfield EPC contractors includes the following activities across the kingdom’s Eastern Province and Shaybah areas:

    • Onshore oil/gas/water well tie-ins and hookups
    • Miscellaneous and capital projects
    • Site preparation
    • Power, communication, control, and security projects including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) systems and remote terminal units (RTUs)
    • Project management, engineering, fabrication, coating, procurement, material management and direct construction services
    • Testing, pre-commissioning, commissioning and mechanical completion
    • Camp and office construction, operations and maintenance
    • Modifications, improvements and upgrades to existing onshore facilities
    • Fencing and general onshore civil and structural works

    The LTAs for brownfield EPC works span seven geographical zones:

    1. Northern Area Zone NA-1: Includes plants, pipelines, wells and miscellaneous projects in Manifa, Safaniyah, Wasit, Abu Hadriyah, Fadhili and Khursaniyah.
    2. Northern Area Zone NA-2: Encompasses plants, pipelines, wells and miscellaneous projects in Berri, Abu Ali Island and Qatif.
    3. Southern Area Zone SA-1: Covers plants, pipelines, wells and miscellaneous projects in Dammam, Abqaiq, Aindar, Shedgum and Farzan.
    4. Southern Area Zone SA-2: Comprises plants, pipelines, wells and miscellaneous projects in Haradh and Harmaliyah.
    5. Southern Area Zone SA-3: Spans plants, pipelines, wells and miscellaneous projects in Khurais/Mazalij/Abu Zifan, Central Arabia/Hawtah/Layl, and Nuayyim.
    6. Southern Area Zone SA-4: Incorporates plants, pipelines, wells and miscellaneous projects in Hawiyah and Uthmaniyah.
    7. Shaybah Area Zone SHYB-1: Focuses on plants, pipelines, wells and miscellaneous projects in Shaybah.

    In addition to the newly created LTA pools for PMC services and brownfield EPC works – and excluding the GES+ engineering group – Aramco maintains two LTA contractor groupings for offshore and onshore oil and gas capital projects.

    READ THE JULY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Stress test for Gulf aviation; Mixed performance as country outlooks diverge in the Levant; GCC tourism sector pivots from crisis to recovery mode.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17576189/main4243.jpg
    Indrajit Sen