UAE cancel celebratory tripartite meeting with Israel, US representatives

The United Arab Emirates has reportedly canceled an anticipated tripartite meeting between US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Kraft, Israeli UN representative Gilad Erdan, and UAE representative Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.

According to a Walla! NEWS report, the explanation behind the cancellation was Dubai‘s dissatisfaction with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s objection to the sale of American F-35 to the Gulf state.

The tripartite session, initiated by Kraft, was intended to be a celebratory event in honor of the recently-signed agreement between the UAE and Israel, with members of the media on hand and a photo session arranged followed by an official statement by the sides. The meeting had been agreed upon and specifics of the event worked out when the UAE representative reached the US embassy to inform them, they were cancelling participation until further notice.

Last Friday, it was reported that the Trump administration was pushing the sale of F-35 stealth fighters and advanced armed drones to the UAE and that US officials had given a classified briefing about the planes to the Emirati military despite some concerns among members of the National Security Council regarding the wisdom of the move prior to the completion of a decision about a potential arms sale.

The report stated that while American authorities denied that the new push to sell the advanced weapons was a direct reward for the Emirati role in the diplomatic breakthrough declared by President Donald Trump last week, officials didn’t dispute that the new momentum on the arms sale — after years of stalled requests by the Emirates to buy the fighter jet — was linked to the extensive diplomatic initiative.

Without the support of the Israeli government, it’s unlikely Congress will support the sale, noted The New York Times.

Earlier this week, reports claimed that the recently-announced peace deal between the UAE and Israel includes a provision for the arming of the UAE with advanced American weapons.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied the reports, saying, “The historic peace agreement between Israel and the UAE didn’t include Israel’s consent to any arms deal whatsoever between the US and the UAE.”

On Wednesday, President Trump said during a White House news conference that the UAE was interested in buying F-35 jets.

“They have the money and they would like to order quite a few F-35s,” he said.