The United Arab Emirates is publicly signaling that it disapproves of Israel's impending annexations in the West Bank, but its strategy suggests it still wants to support the Palestinians without losing the ability to seek economic, technology, and security deals from Israel. In a June 12 op-ed published in Israeli media, UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba staked out the country's aspirations to simultaneously support both sides of the conflict by urging Israel not to carry out annexations that would prevent a future Palestinian state and harm budding relations. This comes shortly after a second plane from the Abu Dhabi-based national carrier Etihad Airways landed in Israel on June 9 to publicly deliver relief supplies in the Palestinian Territories as part of the United Nations World Food Program. 

The United Arab Emirates will not jeopardize its growing ties with Israel, including sales of technology and cooperation against Iran. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Arab Gulf countries are considering purchases of Israeli health technology to better equip their hospitals and improve their own outbreaks at home. Several Arab Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have also purchased Israeli cyber warfare and espionage technology, as tacit diplomatic cooperation while the United States lobby for a strong sanctions campaign against Iran continues. To cement these ties and introduce Israeli businesses and technologies to the Arab world in a public forum, Abu Dhabi had also invited Israel to take part in its Dubai Expo 2020 (which has now been moved to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). 

The op-ed may also be part of a larger Emirati strategy to position itself as a new type of pro-Palestine advocate: one that is less focused on the formation of a Palestinian state, and more focused on the individual rights of Palestinians under Israeli rule. Recent statements from the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash have hinted Abu Dhabi would be prepared to support a “one-state solution,” which would place most of those living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under a single, secular state shared by Israelis and Palestinians. Such a strategy faces considerable hurdles from Israel, which has shown little interest in nationalizing or increasing the political rights of the Palestinians. But even with Israeli resistance, the United Arab Emirates remains unlikely to abandon its support for the Palestinian cause, which would enable Abu Dhabi to increasingly access Israel's technologies, security ties and vibrant economy, while still remaining a voice for the long-standing and still-potent Palestinian question in the Arab and Muslim world.