Israel expert: Muhammad Dahlan is main beneficiary of UAE-Israel deal

Yoni Ben-Menachem, former Israeli officer in the Military Intelligence Service – Aman, expects dismissed Fatah member, Muhammad Dahlan, to benefit the most as a result of the UAE’s normalisation deal with Israel.

“The normalisation agreement between the UAE and Israel opens the door for Dahlan’s return to the Palestinian arena, and renews his attempts to assume the position of the Palestinian Authority president, which may pave the way for talking about the end of the political alliance between Dahlan and Hamas, and the establishment of strongholds for him in the West Bank, waiting for the appropriate time to return to Ramallah,”  Ben-Menachem wrote in an article published on News One news site.

“Dahlan disappears from time to time and then surprises the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank with his return again, and now Dahlan returns to the Palestinian arena thanks to the Emirati normalisation agreement with Israel as the special adviser to Mohammed Bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, who participated in concluding the agreement with Israel,” he added.

READ: UAE, Israel sign first trade agreement since peace deal

On 13 August, US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between the UAE and Israel brokered by Washington.

Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave off Tel Aviv’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalisation efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic of other ties with the occupation state.

Netanyahu repeated yesterday that annexation is not off the table, but has been delayed.