US, UAE agree to bolster Israeli normalization in West Asia: Abu Dhabi

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The United Arab Emirates and the United States agreed on jointly combatting "extremism" and other threats in the Middle East, in addition to working on further bolstering Arab-Israeli normalization, the UAE Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The United Arab Emirates was one of the first Arab states to normalize ties with the Israeli occupation, which prompted international condemnations against the regime in Abu Dhabi.

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan met Tuesday with US State Secretary Antony Blinken and several Congress members in Washington to discuss bilateral ties between the two countries. 

"During the talks, the two sides highlighted their joint commitment to combating extremism and confronting the threats facing the two sides in the Middle East region, and continuing to work to promote the Abraham Accords," the ministry's statement read.

Furthermore, the officials discussed the cooperation between Washington and Abu Dhabi in various sectors, such as security, climate, trade, and investment, according to the UAE Foreign Ministry.

The normalization agreements originally took place in 2020, and normalized Israeli diplomacy with Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, with the deal being signed with Sudan.

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The normalization agreements, known as the "Abraham Accords", saw the establishment of embassy relations between the aforementioned Arab states and the Israeli occupation and that of direct flights, as well as the lifting of banks on tourist trips and official visits between "Tel Aviv" and the UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain.

Washington and Abu Dhabi bolstering their ties come months after a report came out from The Washington Post implicating the UAE of "meddl[ing] in the American political system, including by hacking into computers in the United States" and citing intelligence officials.

According to the same newspaper, the activities include legal and illegal bids to influence the US foreign policies in ways that would serve its interests throughout various administrations in the White House.

Intelligence officials in Washington have put together a classified report showing efforts made by the United Arab Emirates to meddle in US politics despite Abu Dhabi being a close ally of Washington's.

"The report amounted to a 'unique' intelligence examination of a 'friendly power,'" according to Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who once served on the National Intelligence Council, which compiled the report and typically writes such reports about adversaries.

However, as per Riedel, "it also serves as a reminder that the UAE has sought to become a force in cyberspace and has made questionable use of cyberweapons, including by siphoning ex-U.S. officials into surveillance work against the United States itself."

Last September, former US officials Mark Baer, ​​Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gerek admitted to providing advanced computer hacking technology to the UAE, and the UAE agreed with them to pay approximately $1.7 million to resolve criminal charges in a deferred prosecution agreement, which the Ministry of Justice described as the first of its kind.

"Under Project Raven, former U.S. government hackers aided foreign intelligence services in the surveillance of journalists, human rights activists, rival governments, and dissidents. That included the targeting of Americans," the WP added.