Ahead of Abraham Accords’ 5th Anniversary, UAE Warns West Bank Annexation Could End Regional Integration
The United Arab Emirates has warned that any Israeli annexation of territory in the West Bank would cross a “red line” and would unravel regional cooperation achieved through the Abraham Accords.
“Annexation in the West Bank would constitute a red line for the UAE,” said Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs at the Emirati foreign ministry. “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.”
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The statement comes just before the fifth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreement that normalized ties between Israel and several Arab nations. The UAE was the first to sign, followed by Bahrain and Morocco. The accords marked the most significant breakthrough in Arab Israeli diplomacy in decades and were touted by US President Donald Trump as a centerpiece of his foreign policy.
Since then, the UAE has expanded economic, security, and tourism ties with Israel. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to broaden the pact to include additional countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, has used its relationship with Jerusalem to coordinate aid deliveries into Gaza during the ongoing war, framing the accords as beneficial to Palestinians as well.
“From the very beginning, we viewed the Accords as a way to enable our continued support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspiration for an independent state,” Nusseibeh said. “That was our position in 2020, and it remains our position today. Annexation would be a red line for my government, and that means there can be no lasting peace. It would foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution.”
While the UAE has previously criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, this is its sharpest warning yet. Emirati officials have long described normalization with Israel as a strategic choice, making Nusseibeh’s comments particularly pointed as they highlight Abu Dhabi’s opposition to renewed talk of annexation.
