Military Reasons to Celebrate the Israel-UAE Deal
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Last week, Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced a deal: The Arab state would formally recognize Israel in exchange for Israel halting annexation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank. This followed a public invitation by the UAE ambassador to Washington, Yusef al-Otaiba, a highly respected diplomat and a good friend of mine.
The ambassador laid out the deal in clear, respectful language. The Trump administration helped coordinate the details, building on work that presidential adviser Jared Kushner has been facilitating as part of the larger (and thus far unsuccessful) push for an overall peace deal. Reflecting earlier work by the Bush and Obama administrations to bring the Arab and Israeli sides together, it is an important bipartisan step toward Israeli-Arab rapprochement that may in time bear significant fruit.
Throughout my tenure as supreme allied commander of NATO, I came to know Israel well. I became particularly close to the head of the Israeli Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, and his deputy commander, then-Major General Benny Gantz. Both remain important figures in Israeli politics. Indeed, the first phone call between the UAE and Israel, on Sunday, was conducted by Ashkenazi and his counterpart in the UAE. General Gantz, who went on to command the IDF, is now alternate prime minister in a shaky coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu. Benny (as even junior officers called him when he wore stars on his shoulder) is also the minister of defense.
The influence of these two pragmatic former military leaders is obvious in the new arrangement with the UAE. Gantz has emerged as a centrist voice for cooperation with the Arabs, negotiation with the Palestinians, alignment with the U.S. and NATO, and above all the creation of real deterrence against Iran. Both Gabi and Benny understand Iran’s lethal threat to Israel — a key impetus for this move to come closer to the Arab Gulf states.
Indeed, for the past decade, both generals have been quiet advocates of cooperation with Arab countries, including not only traditional partners Jordan and Egypt but also the UAE, Oman and, most importantly, Saudi Arabia. When I visited the Saudi Kingdom last year, I found enthusiasm for Israeli partnership. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have already cooperated with Israel on missile defense, intelligence sharing, reconnaissance (both airborne and at sea) and cyber security.
Not everyone is thrilled about the deal. The Palestinians feel, as usual, not sufficiently consulted nor appreciated for their long suffering at the hands of Israel. They have rejected the agreement as an election-year “stab in the back,” and pointed out that Netanyahu says the promise to stop annexations is “temporary.” They see it as a break in the wall of Gulf Arab solidarity against formal relations with Israel.