Behind the Curtain: How the UAE Used Naeemi to Build a Secret Alliance with Israel
From covert lobbying to intelligence coordination, Ali Rashid Al-Nuaimi emerged as the UAE’s shadow diplomat, orchestrating a web of influence with Israel to protect Abu Dhabi’s global image and silence critics.
Watan-Since the moment the UAE and Israel signed normalization agreements in September 2020, Ali Rashid Al-Nuaimi has stood out as one of the most prominent figures promoting the initiative both domestically and across the Arab world.
But Al-Nuaimi, who holds multiple posts including Chairman of the UAE-Israel Parliamentary Committee and head of the Hedayah Center for Counter-Extremism, was far more than a public relations figure. He was the architect of a hidden network of deals, where politics met money, normalization merged with repression, and secret alliances shaped Western perceptions.
One striking example of this covert strategy is Al-Nuaimi’s relationship with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. During the fragile coalition government shared between Bennett and Yair Lapid in 2021, Abu Dhabi swiftly moved to establish a direct backchannel with Bennett’s circle—with Al-Nuaimi acting as an unofficial envoy for Mohamed bin Zayed.
Money for Influence
According to diplomatic sources, contact between Al-Nuaimi and Bennett’s team began even before Bennett took office in June 2021. Early discussions focused on the possibility of forming a security–media–logistics partnership, generously financed by Abu Dhabi and conducted in the shadows.
Bennett was reportedly open to the arrangement, especially given figures like Tal Gan-Tzvi, his then-chief of staff, who allegedly hinted at the coalition’s need for indirect financial support to fund media campaigns and pro-government lobbying efforts.
Known for his political savvy and willingness to use financial leverage, Al-Nuaimi laid out clear demands:
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Improve the UAE’s image in the West by leveraging Jewish lobbying groups to defend its human rights record.
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Use Israeli intelligence tools, including the Mossad, to target Emirati dissidents and activists in Europe.
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Establish UAE-aligned institutions like the Hedayah Center in Brussels as legitimate platforms to push Abu Dhabi’s narrative on “terrorism” and “extremism,” discrediting political opposition.
Engineered Alliances: From Awards to Loyalty
The financial “gifts” given to Bennett’s team were not blatant bribes—they were dressed as formal invitations to international conferences, academic awards for UAE-aligned figures, and research grants for Israeli think tanks focused on “combating hate” and “interfaith dialogue.” These buzzwords were used to justify both repression and normalization.
Even logistical support for Israeli delegations visiting the UAE—including Bennett’s—was carefully arranged to create a sealed environment for transactional diplomacy: silence in exchange for cash, tech for legitimacy, information for loyalty.
For Al-Nuaimi, described by some within the UAE as the “architect of whitewashed bribery,” this form of tolerance-branded diplomacy is just the public face of a deeper authoritarian project—one aimed at exporting Abu Dhabi’s model of repression under the guise of “stability and coexistence.”
Abu Dhabi’s Secret Meeting: Bennett Returns Off the Record
In a recent development, Naftali Bennett returned to Abu Dhabi despite having no official position in the Israeli government. In a closed-door three-hour meeting with Mohamed bin Zayed, attended by Al-Nuaimi and UAE security officials close to Tahnoun bin Zayed, the UAE’s intelligence mastermind, serious questions have emerged.
Why would a former prime minister with no official portfolio attend such a high-level meeting? What binds him and Al-Nuaimi beyond official titles?
The answer lies in a post-normalization alliance that has evolved into a security–information–lobbying pact, protecting Abu Dhabi’s global interests while enlisting Israeli influence to suppress dissent.
Post-Normalization Repression in Western Language
This story reveals that normalization was not just a pathway for trade or tech exchange—it became a mechanism for cross-border repression, enabling the UAE to export a model of governance built on silencing criticism, buying compliance, and mobilizing allies to neutralize opposition.
Rather than showcasing itself as a progressive, open state, Abu Dhabi now aims to insulate its authoritarian conduct from scrutiny—employing Israeli tools and figures like Al-Nuaimi to repackage surveillance and repression as “counter-extremism.”
The result? Censorship legitimized, repression wrapped in diplomacy, and autocracy justified under Western terms.
