The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has transformed into a vital intelligence gateway for Israel’s infiltration into Arab nations through strategic alliances between Emirati and Israeli companies, particularly those involved in data gathering and artificial intelligence (AI).
The most recent example of this was just a few days ago when the Jordanian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. The $100 million digital transformation project was announced, allegedly aimed at improving Jordan’s healthcare sector, with $85 million dedicated to its development.
The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development promoted the project as aligning with the objectives of Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision (2023-2025), claiming it would significantly enhance healthcare services and accelerate digital transformation in Jordan.
However, the project’s executor, Presight AI, an Emirati artificial intelligence company, is deeply tied to Israeli defense and AI firms, with joint offices in Israel. Observers suggest that Presight was originally established as a joint venture between Emirati and Israeli companies, essentially existing as a partnership with Israel.
On April 21, 2021, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, a leading Israeli defense company, signed a joint venture with Group 42 to develop commercial AI technologies and big data solutions. This agreement, which also involved the establishment of a research and development center in Israel, followed the formal normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE in 2020 under the Abraham Accords.
Rafael is known for its development of Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems and leads in battlefield network systems and laser research. Group 42, an Emirati company, now has offices in Israel.
Earlier, the Emirates Center for Studies and Media (EMASC) had warned about Israel’s growing security penetration into the UAE through economic investments. Since the 2020 Abraham Accords, trade and economic ties between the two nations have surged to unprecedented levels, with collaboration expanding into critical military and security domains.
Analysts have noted Israel’s rapid entry into the Emirati market, especially within the security, defense, and AI sectors. This rapid expansion raises serious security concerns, particularly about potential Israeli espionage activities within the UAE and other Gulf states.
Recently, Israeli security and military sources revealed that an Israeli company specializing in aerial data collection and analysis, using drones, is building a drone infrastructure network for a UAE government entity. The deal is worth $2 million.
Months ago, Israeli media reported that Israeli security and cyber companies had begun operating within coalitions in the UAE, working on joint projects. The Israeli economic newspaper Globes reported that XM Cyber, a cybersecurity company partly owned by former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, had entered the Gulf region for the first time, offering its defensive cybersecurity products to key infrastructures like gas, oil, and financial sectors.
Furthermore, the Israeli global investment company OurCrowd announced it would expand its operations in the UAE by establishing a venture capital office in Abu Dhabi, as well as an AI technology center, under a new agreement. The fintech company also plans to open an R&D center in the UAE, with both agreements revealed during Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2022.
More than 30 companies from around the world have participated in the UAE’s financial services program over the past two years, positioning the UAE as a gateway for financial services firms and a bridge between time zones, offering a favorable regulatory environment through the Abu Dhabi Global Market.
Additionally, Israeli global investment companies have been granted licenses to operate in the UAE, with the first Israeli venture capital firm receiving accreditation from the UAE’s international financial center in Abu Dhabi in November last year.
Reports suggest that Israeli security companies are now heavily present in critical government and private sectors in the UAE, such as airports, ports, and major technology and oil firms. These firms are also heavily invested in AI-related developments.
What’s particularly alarming is that Israel’s presence, whether security-related or commercial, offers no free services to Abu Dhabi. Israel’s focus on these sectors isn’t coincidental—it makes the UAE, and by extension the Gulf region, highly vulnerable to Israeli surveillance and intelligence operations. The UAE could become a strategic intelligence hub for Israel in the region, especially in countering Iran’s influence.
