TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) 鈥� sent anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the , the U.S. ambassador to Israel said Tuesday.
The comments by underline the growing defense relationship between Israel and the UAE, countries long suspicious of Iran, as still holds in the Iran war. It represents the first publicly acknowledged deployment of Israel’s military to the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
However, the narrow Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran’s chokehold and negotiations between the U.S. and Iran appear at a standstill for the moment 鈥� raising the risk of the conflict breaking out again.
, a Baptist minister, former governor of Arkansas and one-time presidential candidate, made the comment on stage at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to say a word of appreciation for United Arab Emirates, the first Abraham accord member,鈥� Huckabee said at the Tel Aviv Conference. 鈥淛ust look at the benefits. Israel just sent them Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them.鈥�
diplomatically in 2020. That drew immediate criticism from Iran, long Israel’s main regional enemy. Iran did not immediately respond to Huckabee’s remarks, though it has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the Emirates.
Israeli deployment comes as UAE signals strength
The UAE and Israel did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the acknowledgment by Huckabee. However, Huckabee’s remarks came after the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, was quoted as saying the same during an event at the Israeli mission there Monday night 鈥� suggesting this was an intentional release of the information, likely with the Emiratis’ and Israelis’ blessing.
It comes as the UAE has faced Iranian missile and drone fire even after the ceasefire was reached in the war and has been trying to signal to nervous investors and the public it remains open for business and safe. The UAE also has closed down Iranian government-linked sites in the country since the war began. The Emirates long has been used by both the Iranian government and average Iranians as a place to safely do business offshore from the Islamic Republic.
On Thursday during a visit to the Emirates by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan accompanied him to an air base where Egyptian pilots and Rafael fighter jets were stationed 鈥� the first acknowledgment of a detachment operating in the UAE. Sheikh Mohammed and the UAE strongly backed el-Sissi as he rose to power in 2013 and in the years since.
Huckabee urges other Gulf states to recognize Israel
Huckabee added that he was 鈥渧ery optimistic鈥� that additional countries in the region will soon join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 diplomatic recognition deal that also included the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain, for formal relations with Israel.
However, many Arab states remain incensed by Israel’s wide-ranging military campaigns after Hamas’ 2023 attack on the country, which has seen the Gaza Strip leveled and Iran’s allies attacked across the wider Mideast. Israel now controls territory in Lebanon and Syria as well.
Huckabee in his remarks also sought to shore up U.S. support for the recent war, suggesting that 鈥淚srael is the appetizer, America has always been the entr茅e” for Iran’s theocracy.
鈥淭he Gulf states now understood they will have to make a choice 鈥� is it more likely they will be attacked by Iran or Israel?” Huckabee asked. “They see that Israel helped us and Iran attacked us. Israel is not trying to take over your land, and is not sending missiles to you.鈥�
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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