TEL AVIV: Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the Iran war, the US ambassador to Israel said on Tuesday.
The comments by Mike Huckabee underline the growing defence relationship between Israel and the UAE, countries long suspicious of Iran, as a shaky ceasefire still holds in the Iran war. It represents the first publicly acknowledged deployment of Israel's military to the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
However, the narrow Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran's chokehold and negotiations between the US and Iran appear at a standstill for the moment — raising the risk of the conflict breaking out again.
Huckabee, a Baptist minister, former governor of Arkansas and one-time presidential candidate, made the comment on stage at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel.
“I'd like to say a word of appreciation for the United Arab Emirates, the first Abraham Accord member,” Huckabee said at the Tel Aviv Conference. “Just look at the benefits. Israel just sent them Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them.”
The United Arab Emirates diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. That drew immediate criticism from Iran, long Israel's main regional enemy. Iran did not immediately respond to Huckabee's remarks, though it has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the Emirates.
Israeli deployment comes as the UAE signals strength
The UAE and Israel did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the acknowledgement by Huckabee. However, Huckabee's remarks came after the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, was quoted as saying the same during an event at the Israeli mission there Monday night — suggesting this was an intentional release of the information, likely with the Emiratis' and Israelis' blessing.
It comes as the UAE has faced Iranian missile and drone fire even after the ceasefire was reached in the war, and has been trying to signal to nervous investors and the public that it remains open for business and safe. The UAE has also closed down Iranian government-linked sites in the country since the war began. The Emirates has long been used by both the Iranian government and average Iranians as a place to safely do business offshore from the Islamic Republic.
On Thursday, during a visit to the Emirates by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan accompanied him to an air base where Egyptian pilots and Rafael fighter jets were stationed — the first acknowledgement of a detachment operating in the UAE. Sheikh Mohammed and the UAE strongly backed el-Sissi as he rose to power in 2013 and in the years since.
Huckabee urges other Gulf states to recognise Israel
Huckabee added that he was “very optimistic” that additional countries in the region will soon join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 diplomatic recognition deal that also included the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain, for formal relations with Israel.
However, many Arab states remain incensed by Israel's wide-ranging military campaigns after Hamas' 2023 attack on the country, which has seen the Gaza Strip levelled and Iran's allies attacked across the wider Mideast. Israel now controls territory in Lebanon and Syria as well.
Huckabee, in his remarks, also sought to shore up US support for the recent war, suggesting that “Israel is the appetiser, America has always been the entrée" for Iran's theocracy.
“The Gulf states now understand they will have to make a choice — is it more likely they will be attacked by Iran or Israel?" Huckabee asked. "They see that Israel helped us and Iran attacked us. Israel is not trying to take over your land, and is not sending missiles to you.”