UAE Warns Israel's West Bank Annexation Is 'Red Line' - Would Destroy Abraham Accords

UAE Warns Israel's West Bank Annexation Is 'Red Line' - Would Destroy Abraham Accords

 TYLER DURDEN

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the first Arab country to warn Israel over the "red line" of annexing any part of the occupied West Bank. Importantly, the UAE had also been the very first country to sign on to Trump's Abraham Accords, making peace with Israel and normalizing relations back in 2020. It was then followed by Bahrain and Morocco.

The UAE's foreign ministry on Wednesday warned it could pull out of the Abraham Accords, and "end the pursuit of regional integration". Lana Nusseibeh, the foreign ministry's Assistant Minister for Political Affairs, declared that "Annexation in the West Bank would constitute a red line for the UAE."

"It would severely undermine the vision and spirit of the Accords, end the pursuit of regional integration, and would alter the widely-shared consensus on what the trajectory of this conflict should be - two states living side by side in peace, prosperity, and security," the statement continued.

Certainly it would also jeopardize Washington's hoped-for path toward Saudi-Israeli normalization, but the Gaza war has clearly put this on the back-burner, making it a prospect possibly years or decades down the line.

The UAE is responding to several new Israeli media reports saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is mulling major 'payback' to those countries - especially in Europe - seeking to recognize a 'State of Palestine'.

He will gather top ministers for a discussion on the implications of international recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday, where they will consider extending Israeli sovereignty over at least some of the West Bank.

"Netanyahu will be joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich," local reports indicate.

Jerusalem Post describes that "Several Israeli officials previously reported that Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state."

This could include recognition over all places where there are currently Jewish settlements, or areas like the Jordan Valley - which has long been sought by Israeli hardline nationalists.