How the UAE became a destination for Israelis

{"text":[[{"start":6.75,"text":"Six years ago, Israelis were offered a promising new destination for travel and trade: the United Arab Emirates, which had just normalised diplomatic relations with Israel under a US-brokered deal."}],[{"start":18.75,"text":"Dubai government-owned Flydubai provided a budget choice for the three-and-a-half-hour trip. When many foreign carriers suspended flights to Israel in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack and the ensuing regional conflicts, Emirati airlines mostly kept flying. And many Israelis felt the highly security-conscious UAE was a safer place to holiday than Europe."}],[{"start":41.75,"text":"But Wednesday’s extraordinary brawl aboard a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai plane has come as a shock to Israelis who increasingly viewed the UAE as a safe haven in a region where they have few friends."}],[{"start":54.35,"text":"One pilot on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv stabbed the other and attempted to crash the aircraft, according to witnesses and officials, forcing an emergency landing after the plane plunged 20,000 feet in a matter of minutes."}],[{"start":67.55,"text":"Known as the Abraham Accords and also signed by three other Arab states, the 2020 peace agreement formalised quiet but long-running commercial links between the UAE and Israel."}],[{"start":79.45,"text":"These have grown since the deal was struck, with bilateral trade surpassing $3bn per year in 2024, according to Israeli data, up to 25 flights per day at times, and a growing population of Israelis living in the UAE. A handful of known Israeli businesses operate, from bakeries to fintech companies, and Israeli tourists throng Dubai hotels such as the Atlantis The Royal."}],[{"start":104.35,"text":"The UAE has become Israel’s closest Arab ally. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The two discussed “ways to strengthen ties”, according to the UAE state news agency, in the first acknowledgment of Netanyahu coming to the UAE."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":123.35,"text":"For pragmatic Abu Dhabi, the 2020 deal — which was the signature foreign policy achievement of US President Donald Trump’s first term — won a valuable stock of goodwill with Washington."}],[{"start":135.9,"text":"For ordinary Israelis, the most visible impact was the introduction of flights between Tel Aviv and the UAE, allowing them to travel east on airlines such as Flydubai and Etihad Airways — the first flight in 2020 made national headlines."}],[{"start":151.35,"text":"But the Abraham Accords were highly contentious in the Middle East, and Abu Dhabi faced a barrage of criticism in the region for breaking the Arab consensus that peace with Israel should only come with the return of occupied Palestinian land."}],[{"start":164.54999999999998,"text":"UAE-Israel ties were soon tested by Israel’s ferocious war on Gaza, following the Hamas attacks in 2023. Israel unleashed a belligerent military strategy around the region, including fighting wars against Hizbollah in Lebanon, and against Iran."}],[{"start":179.79999999999998,"text":"Many Israelis said they still felt safe in the UAE, where public pro-Palestinian sentiment is muted because protests are illegal. But the small community was shocked by the brutal murder of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi in 2024 by three Uzbek nationals, who were sentenced to death."}],[{"start":197.64999999999998,"text":"The motives of the attacker on the Flydubai flight remain unclear. Israel later claimed that he was an Omani national, though the airline urged “all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts”."}],[{"start":211.99999999999997,"text":"After the US and Israel launched a new war on Iran this spring, Tehran fired waves of missiles and drones on its Gulf Arab neighbours — with the UAE taking the brunt of the assault."}],[{"start":223.44999999999996,"text":"Though many in the Arab world blamed Israel for dragging the region into conflict, Abu Dhabi has doubled down on its relationship with the nation, which sent its Iron Dome air-defence and Iron Beam laser system to help the UAE fend off Iran’s attacks. "}],[{"start":239.69999999999996,"text":"“Israel has proven to be on the good list,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati analyst. “It was one of those countries that really came forth, bringing all the needed advanced defence systems . . . I think the war showed absolutely how important the relationship is with Israel.”"}],[{"start":255.69999999999996,"text":"The two countries now want to expand co-operation, from military to tech and logistics."}],[{"start":261.79999999999995,"text":"Despite fears that the near disaster on the Tel Aviv-bound flight may deter many would-be tourists, Abdulla said he was not concerned about disruption to UAE-Israel ties. He added that he hoped the Flydubai incident would “strengthen the dialogue so this thing never happens again”."}],[{"start":287.49999999999994,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790819252_4522.mp3"}