Israel’s Bennett, UAE Crown Prince and Egypt’s Sissi Hold Historic Summit

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met on Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan in Sharm el-Sheikh, in a bid to boost regional ties.

The three leaders discussed the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on energy, market stability, and food security, the Egyptian president’s office said in a statement.

Even though there was no specific mention of the Iran deal, which is being negotiated in Vienna, the tripartite meeting is a show of unity against western powers attempting to revive the 2015 accord as well as an expression of opposition over the U.S.’s recent decision to drop Iran’s Revolutionary Guards from its list of terror organizations.

The UAE “shocked” by the Americans’ plan to delist the IRGC, the Jerusalem Post reported citing a source in Abu Dhabi.

The summit was kept under wraps until Tuesday. According to Haaretz, which cited a diplomatic source, the summit positioned Israel as a stabilizing influence in the region.

The U.S. has backed Israel’s alliance with countries that were formerly considered its adversaries – including Egypt, the Gulf states and Turkey, the report said.

Israel in turn is being viewed as a mediator to ease tensions between the Gulf states and the U.S., which have escalated over the U.S.’ response to a recent attack on Abu Dhabi as well as the Arab Gulf nations’ ambiguous position in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

According to Haaretz, Israel is interested in persuading the UAE and Saudi Arabia to boost their oil production in order to scale back global dependence on Russian oil.

Of note, the Palestinian issue was not discussed at the summit.

Next month, direct flights from Tel Aviv to the resort town of Sharm el Sheikh will be launched.