According to the Washington Post, West Jerusalem was reportedly caught off guard by the UAE’s disapproval.
The Washington Post reports that a public caution from the United Arab Emirates led the Israeli government to cancel a planned discussion regarding the annexation of the West Bank. Earlier in the week, a high-ranking UAE diplomat reportedly informed Israeli media that such action would constitute a “red line,” preventing Israel from integrating into the region.
Local media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address the matter at a significant government meeting on Friday. On Wednesday, UAE special envoy Lana Nusseibeh told the Times of Israel that annexation would “foreclose the idea of regional integration.”
She stated that “For every Arab capital you talk to, the idea of regional integration is still a possibility, but annexation to satisfy some of the radical extremist elements in Israel is going to take that off the table.”
Under the Abraham Accords, brokered by President Donald Trump during his initial term, the UAE became the first Arab nation in over 25 years to normalize relations with Israel.
According to the Post, an Israeli official stated that the public warning from Abu Dhabi “came as a surprise,” and called the situation “very unusual.”
The newspaper reports that the annexation issue was removed from the Israeli ministerial meeting agenda on Thursday.
Washington has yet to express an opinion on the matter. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described potential annexation as “not a final thing,” adding that he was “not going to opine on that.”
Earlier this year, the West Bank was brought back into focus when a group of Israeli ministers pushed for the territory’s formal annexation. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich asserted that control could be established at any moment.
Israel seized the West Bank from Jordan during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and has been actively constructing settlements there, a move widely considered illegal by the international community. In 2020, annexation was imminent, but the idea was abandoned in exchange for normalizing relations with the UAE and Bahrain.
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