Ex-Dubai police chief says Israel should join Arab League

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (L), Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and his brother Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (2nd L), greet Lieutent General of Dubai Police, Dhahi Khalfan Tamim (R), at the Zabeel Palace in Dubai on 30 September 2008 on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. [AFP via Getty Images]

Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, deputy head of Dubai Police and General Security, has called on Arab countries to normalise relations with Israel and allow it to join the Arab League.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Khalfan called for normalising relations with Israel at the popular level, not only the official level, adding that “the Israelis are not strangers, they are children of this land” and that official normalisation alone does not mean anything without popular normalisation.

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Khalfan, who is known for his unwavering support for normalising relations with Israel, called to allow Israel to join the Arab League and to change the league’s name to “the League of Middle Eastern Countries”.

Khalfan wrote on Twitter that he had learnt of the UAE-Israel agreement an hour before its announcement, claiming that rapprochement with Israel serves the security of the region. “As a security man, I see that hatred does not serve stability,” he said.

Last Thursday, the UAE and Israel announced they had reached an agreement to normalise relations amid local and regional opposition.

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