UAE former police chief calls on Arab world to accept Israel

Even though the UAE does not officially recognize the State of Israel, relations between the two countries have been softening.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

In a series of tweets on Friday, a former police chief in Dubai showed his support for Israel and called on the Arab world to follow suit.

“The truth is, it’s meaningless not to recognize Israel,” Dhahi Khalfan Tamim tweeted.

“Israel is a country build on science, knowledge, prosperity, and strong relations with all the developing countries. Who are the people who don’t recognize Israel’s position? From where do you think the Jews came? From Hawaii?”

In another tweet, Tamim said if reconciliation happens he would choose to visit Israel before visiting the Kaaba (“House of God”), referring to the Islamic faith’s most sacred edifice in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Tamim also urged the Gulf states to accept Israel in order to stop terrorism.

“As soon as the Gulf states normalize their relations with Israel, Qatar’s role as a proxy state for terrorist organizations will be over,” Tamim wrote.

“It is known that Qatar supports Hamas and still maintains a relationship with Israel. So what stops us from having a normal relationship with Israel?”

Even though the United Arab Emirates (UAE) does not officially recognize the State of Israel, relations between the two countries have reportedly been softening.

In February, it was reported that the UAE coordinated a meeting between Sudanese leader Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to encourage reconciliation between the two countries.

In December 2019, a secret trilateral meeting in December involving the U.S., Israel, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) took place at the White House, with the aim of coordinating moves against Iran.

Last summer, Israel confirmed that Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz had visited the UAE and met with a senior Emirati official on the sidelines of a climate conference.