The United Arab Emirates has warned that Israel’s annexation of any part of the occupied West Bank would be a “red line” that could end the pursuit of regional integration.
“Annexation in the West Bank would constitute a red line for the UAE,” said Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs at the UAE’s foreign ministry. “It would severely undermine the vision and spirit of the Abraham Accords, end the pursuit of regional integration, and would alter the widely shared consensus on what the trajectory of this conflict should be – two states living side by side in peace, prosperity, and security.”
The UAE became the first Arab country in 26 years to normalize relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, followed by Bahrain and Morocco. Since then, Abu Dhabi has deepened trade, defense, and tourism ties with Israel, while the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to expand the pact to include other Arab nations, particularly Saudi Arabia.
The latest warning comes days before the fifth anniversary of the accords and marks Abu Dhabi’s strongest rebuke of Israel since normalization. It also raises fresh doubts about the durability of the agreement, which was one of former US President Donald Trump’s key foreign policy achievements.
The UAE has maintained ties with Israel throughout the Gaza war, using the relationship to coordinate humanitarian aid drops into the territory. “From the very beginning, we viewed the Accords as a way to enable our continued support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspiration for an independent state. That was our position in 2020, and it remains our position today,” Nusseibeh said.
In 2020, the UAE conditioned normalization on Israel suspending plans to annex parts of the West Bank. Israel captured the territory from Jordan in the 1967 war and has since established Jewish settlements there. Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and seek it, along with East Jerusalem and Gaza, as part of a future state — a position backed by most of the international community.
Nusseibeh pointed to recent proposals within Israel to move forward with annexation, referencing comments by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said such steps would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”
Netanyahu is expected to meet top cabinet ministers this week to discuss potential annexation in response to an anticipated wave of Western recognition of Palestinian statehood. France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal, and others plan to join more than 140 nations that already recognize Palestine.
Israeli officials say Netanyahu is considering options ranging from annexing select settlements to a broader takeover of Area C, which makes up about 60% of the West Bank. One scenario under review is annexation of the Jordan Valley, a strip along the Jordan River that many in Israel view as a critical security buffer.
Far-right ministers Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, along with settler leaders, are pushing for full annexation of all land not inhabited by Palestinians, a move that would effectively encircle Palestinian population centers and undermine prospects for a contiguous state.
“We call on the Israeli government to suspend these plans. Extremists, of any kind, cannot be allowed to dictate the region’s trajectory. Peace requires courage, persistence, and a refusal to let violence define our choices,” Nusseibeh said.
