The Arab media announced a meeting of a United Arab Emirates top security delegation with Tel Aviv officials late last week. The UAE delegation was led by Mahmoud al-Shamsi, head of the UAE's intelligence agency. He was accompanied by four other Emirati security personnel.

This is not the first time such reports have appeared. Last year, the Middle East Eye website reported on the UAE’s security cooperation with Israel, according to which Abu Dhabi inked a contract with an Israeli company to secure the safety of important Emirati oil facilities. The agreement called for installation of a comprehensive regulatory network throughout the UAE, which allowed the authorities to monitor the activities of Emirati citizens and others in public places -- from the moment they would leave home until they returned.
 
In spite of the reports revealing a new secret agreement and cooperation between Israel and the UAE, once upon a time in the Emirate, Arab honor and ideal were upheld with resistance to Israel. Why has the UAE turned into one of the leading countries seeking relations with the Zionists in the past few years?

Mohammad Bin al-Mokhtar al-Shanghiti, professor of political ethics at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, blames the Emirate’s new rulers for the change in attitudes towards Israel.
He believes that Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the modern Emirate, felt he was affiliated with the Islamic and Arab Ummah, and therefore opposed the Zionists early on. However, Emirate’s tendency towards Israel today is proof of its separation from its roots and values.

The new policy towards Israel of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan’s (MbZ) is derived from ignorance and arrogance. However, that is not everyone’s view in the UAE. Imad Al-Din al-Juburi, a political commentator, believes that the younger leaders of the Arab states in the Persian Gulf such as Mohammed bin Zayed in the UAE and Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia are following in the footsteps of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization. When one of the largest Arab powers, Egypt, decides to make peace with Israel, the movement of the UAE towards Israel is more or less considered natural.

Egypt and Jordan made peace with Israel on the pretext of having their occupied lands returned, and the Palestinian authorities came to terms with Israel for the sake of a partial solution to the Palestinian issue. But the UAE's reconciliation with the Zionist regime, which is far from the occupied lands, is none of that.
Interestingly, the UAE has not succeeded in normalizing relations with Israel, but the newly-formed bond between the UAE and Israel has strengthened the Zionist lobby and turned the UAE in to Israel’s tool in the region.

One of the most prominent Zionist lobbies, collaborating with the Emirates, is the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, known also as FDD, an anti-Iranian foundation originated from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  Letters from the UAE ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, revealed that Abu Dhabi has close ties with the Zionist lobby AIPAC, and during Barack Obama’s presidency, the UAE had made great efforts to prevent any nuclear deal with Iran.
In the past year, the UAE has also taken advantage of this foundation to put international pressure on Qatar. Indeed, the UAE has sold its soul to the devil in the name of democracy. The FDD has been protecting the interests of the Zionist regime and pursuing the objectives of the Likud Party headed by Netanyahu in the Middle East. The foundation’s activities have not been limited to exerting pressure on U.S. officials to oppose a nuclear deal, but it is also trying to impose Netanyahu's view on resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which is in conflict with the two-state concept.

The Emirates, well-aware of the power and impact of the Zionist lobbies in the United States, have been working hard over the past few years to spend millions of dollars on these lobbies to secure their interests in the U.S. Congress. This alignment with Israel by the rulers of the UAE and Saudi Arabia has happened because Muhammad bin Zayed and Mohammed bin Salman know too well that these institutions have clout. They also want to get closer to this source of power and contribute in planning and determining the policies of the region.