All advanced weapons sales to UAE also had Defense Ministry approval

Yediot Ahronot claimed that the PMO and the Mossad fought with the Defense Ministry to sell advanced weapons to the UAE, but officials said that the ministry approved all sales

AUGUST 25, 2020 21:32

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan shakes hands with a member of the UAE armed forces during joint military manoeuvres between the UAE and the French army in the desert of Abu Dhabi May 2, 2012 (photo credit: REUTERS/WAM/HANDOUT) — Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan shakes hands with a member of the UAE armed forces during joint military manoeuvres between the UAE and the French army in the desert of Abu Dhabi May 2, 2012

(photo credit: REUTERS/WAM/HANDOUT)

All Israeli sales of advanced-weapons systems, even those promoted by the Mossad and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), were approved by the Defense Ministry, government sources told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, refuting a report in a Hebrew daily claiming that the intelligence agency advanced deals without prior consultations.

The Yediot Aharonot report claimed that the PMO and the Mossad fought with the Defense Ministry to sell advanced weapons to the United Arab Emirates. But officials said the ministry had approved all Israeli sales.

The Post previously reported about the sale of NSO Group’s Pegasus cellphone hacking technology to moderate Sunni Arab countries and that the deals were approved by the Defense Ministry. The UAE was one of those countries, and the ministry backed weapons sales to it worth billions of dollars.

The Yediot Aharonot report on Tuesday seemed to draw a wedge between the Mossad and the PMO on one side and the Defense Ministry on the opposing side, with a narrative of having advanced sales to the UAE for years without Defense Ministry support.

However, sources have told the Post the Defense Ministry approved all deals and supports the logic of selling such advanced weapons to the UAE.

The sales moved into high gear in 2010 after Israel was blamed for assassinating a top Hamas operative in the UAE. As compensation, Israel reportedly agreed to begin selling drones and other military hardware to the UAE, the sources said.

The widely accepted logic has been that these sales are in Israel’s interest to confront Iran with a stronger circle of counterattack capabilities should the Iranians try to initiate a broader conflict against the Jewish state and the moderate Sunni states.

While internal disagreements between the defense and intelligence establishments are certainly possible on any given issue, sources said the Defense Ministry generally has been supportive of advanced-weapons sales to the UAE.

More importantly, even if the Mossad may be the negotiator – since the UAE, until now, has been a country without diplomatic relations with Israel – it has never made a weapons deal with the Emirates without prior consultation and approval from the Defense Ministry.

Even the Yediot Aharonot report dates advanced-weapons sales back to the early tenure of former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo.

The report only claims that such sales have accelerated in recent years, which would have occurred during the years that the Mossad successfully built a path toward the current peace deal.

The F-35 deal may be different, since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues, at least in public, to oppose it.

However, the same logic of Israel selling advanced weapons to the UAE could apply to the US selling it the F-35, which could water down Israeli opposition.

The Defense Ministry declined to respond to the Post report.

Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.