‘The UAE sends a clear message: annexation is a red line,’ says senior Emirati diplomat
Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank would essentially end any remaining possibility of a two-state solution and the pursuit of regional integration, the diplomatic adviser to United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned Thursday.
“In these challenging times, the UAE sends a clear message: annexation is a red line and peace through a two-state solution must remain the path forward,” Anwar Gargash wrote on the US social media company X’s platform.
The warning came after UAE Assistant Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Lana Nusseibeh said Wednesday that the West Bank’s annexation would be a “red line” for Abu Dhabi.
“Annexation would be a red line for my government, and that means there can be no lasting peace,” Nusseibeh told The Times of Israel news outlet.
“It would foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution,” she said.
Israel’s i24 News channel reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has backed away from putting West Bank annexation on the government’s agenda after the United Arab Emirates warned that any such move would cross a ‘red line’ and threaten the Abraham Accords.”
A government meeting scheduled for Thursday would “instead address the deteriorating security situation in the territory as international attention turns toward possible recognition of a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly,” it said.
According to Israeli officials, “the Emirates pressed Netanyahu to abandon plans to discuss applying sovereignty to large parts of the West Bank, warning that annexation would jeopardize the normalization agreement reached in 2020,” added the broadcaster.
On Wednesday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel plans to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In 2020, the UAE signed US-sponsored agreements with Israel to normalize relations. Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco also followed suit.
The international community, including the UN, considers Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, to be illegal under international law.
The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In an advisory opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
