UAE and Israel

THE Arab Israel conflict began immediately after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and so far there have been numerous skirmishes and full scale wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973. After decades of enmity and clashes the frontline states in the conflict that is Egypt and Jordan have by now recognized and established diplomatic relations with Israel. Turkey and Iran were the other two Muslim countries to recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations with them. Since 1948 a vast majority of the Muslim nations including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have not officially recognized the state of Israel. In 2020 many gulf countries like Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar also recognized Israel and established diplomatic relations. The Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, officially the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel was initially agreed to in a joint statement by the USA, Israel and UAE on August 13th 2020, officially known as the Abraham accord. The UAE thus became the third Arab state after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and The UAE is also the first Persian Gulf country to recognize Israel In return Israel agreed to suspend plans for annexing parts of the West Bank. This agreement formalized what had been informal but robust foreign relations between the two countries. This agreement was signed on 15th September 2020 in the White House in Washington DC. It was approved unanimously by the Israeli cabinet on October 12 and was ratified by the Knesset on October 15.The UAE and cabinet ratified the agreement on October 19. The agreement went into effect on January 5, 2021.As of May 2026, this partnership has evolved into significant defense cooperation, including technology transfers and potential air defense support amid regional conflicts, with bilateral trade aiming to exceed US$5 billion.