TEHRAN— Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived on Sunday in the UAE, just as Tehran and Abu Dhabi have taken steps to mend ties. What is the message of the visit? Tehran Times explores.

Bennett plans to meet Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Monday before returning to Israel.

According to his office, the two plan to discuss “boosting ties between the countries, with an emphasis on economic and regional issues.” 

His office did not discuss what these economic and regional issues are, but we can break it down. It’s very simple. 

The story begins with Israel’s controlling issues. They have a tendency to have excessive control over the countries they become friends with.

On September 15, 2020, Israel and the UAE signed a “normalization” agreement titled the “Abraham Accord,” under which the two would “establish peace, diplomatic and friendly relations, co-operation and full normalization of ties between them and their peoples, in accordance with this Treaty, and to chart together a new path to unlock the vast potential of their countries and of the region.”  

They also committed to “normalize relations and promote stability through diplomatic engagement, increased economic cooperation and other close coordination.”

Since the embarrassing U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. allies in the region felt endangered. The UAE felt that it has to pursue other options as well and cut dependence on the United States as the only ally in the region, hence, they revisited their priorities and began visiting France and the UK to sign lucrative deals. 

As for the West Asia region, the mysterious, taciturn man of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed finally visited Iran on December 6 to try to patch up ties with Iran. Diplomatic contacts between Iran and the UAE have never gone down to zero over the past decade. They only decreased at some points due to a number of mainly political disputes. But while diplomatic ties have experienced some ups and downs, economic ties remained up and running.

The visit scared the Israelis, as they now feel that they should freakishly control the behavior of one of their “allies” in the region. Therefore, Bennett decided to pay a visit to Abu Dhabi and remind them of their commitments under the so-called normalization treaty. 

Another perfect example is that diplomats from the United States are now present in Vienna negotiating indirectly with Iran to explore ways for a possible lifting of sanctions on Iran. However, according to a New York Times report, the gap between Biden and Bennett’s regime is widening.

The report said that Israeli officials in private have argued that the Iranians are “advancing their nuclear program while betting that the United States, eager to diminish American commitments in the Middle East, will not abandon the Vienna talks for more forceful action.”

According to the report, this is just tip of the iceberg. The disagreement over Iran is just one of several issues troubling the Biden-Bennett relationship.

The two have clashed for a long time on whether the U.S. should reopen the American consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem, which was closed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Bennett says such a move would undermine Israel’s sovereignty.

There is a growing fear among the Israelis that Biden would ditch them over the Iran case, as it has happened before.

In recent days, some Israeli media outlets have reported that Tel Aviv is concerned that the U.S. government may be trying to exchange messages with Iran through unofficial channels without informing them. The U.S. government has a history of doing so through Oman, Qatar, and other regional mediators.

It is not at all unlikely that Biden would once again seek to circumvent Israel in order to return to the 2015 agreement, away from the pressures of the Israeli lobbies. The need to over-control the United States, the UAE, and other allies may be rooted in these moves. 

A possible revival of the 2015 nuclear deal endorsed by the UN Security Council is detrimental to the Israeli regime, as it puts Tel Aviv in a difficult position. U.S. and Israel have a history of bitter disagreements over their approach to limit Iran’s peaceful nuclear program. Former U.S. President Barack Obama signed the nuclear deal in 2015 despite strong opposition by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister. 

Bennett believes the Israeli sabotages have set back Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, while some in the United States argue that these acts have only encouraged Iran to rebuild the nuclear enrichment facilities with more efficient, up-to-date equipment.

Moreover, Israelis have recently expressed that the military option with regards to Iran is on the table, while the U.S. has indicated that it hopes diplomacy would solve the case.

It’s high time the United States and the UAE put an end to the Israeli OCD to control all their moves.