A new analytical study has confirmed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) now acts as an indirect agent for spreading normalisation with Israel — employing its media, cultural, and political apparatus to promote the Israeli narrative throughout the region, particularly during the ongoing two-year genocide against the people of Gaza.
According to the report issued by the Emirati Association Against Normalisation, the UAE’s role operates through a framework of “indirect agency” intertwined with “cognitive warfare” — a strategy aimed at reshaping Arab public consciousness so that the Israeli narrative becomes not only acceptable but even reasonable.
After the wave of official normalisation agreements that opened doors to economic, investment, and security cooperation, the region is now witnessing a far more dangerous phase:
“Narrative Normalisation.”
This stage requires no new diplomatic signatures; rather, it works through local infiltration of Israeli perspectives — via Gulf-funded media outlets, digital platforms, intellectual elites, and influencers who present a seemingly “rational” discourse that ultimately blames the victim for the crimes of the oppressor.
In this sense, the Emirati-Israeli alliance is not merely a diplomatic alignment, but a methodical project to redefine truth itself.
“Agents of Occupation”: Crafting Israel’s Story in Arabic
The paper identifies these actors as “agents of the Israeli occupation” — not necessarily spies, but Arab elites and institutions that repackage the Israeli narrative in local language and style.
This “agency” manifests in familiar rhetorical codes repeatedly seen across Emirati and regional media:
“Gaza destroyed itself.”
“The resistance brought this upon its people.”
“No one can defeat Israel.”
These phrases do more than distort military realities — they invert the moral equation, absolving the occupier of systematic violence and assigning guilt to the victims under the guise of “rational analysis.”
When prominent Gulf academics such as Abdulkhaleq Abdulla tweet accusations holding the Palestinian resistance responsible for the blood of Gaza’s children, this is not an isolated opinion.
It reflects an ecosystem that rewards such rhetoric and places it at the forefront of public discourse.
The Post-War Media Shift
The study observes a qualitative transformation in Gulf media narratives after the ceasefire:
the shift from reporting on Israeli war crimes to emphasising the “cost of resistance.”
This transition reinforces three interconnected functions of indirect agency:
- Criminalising Resistance: Stripping it of its liberatory nature and framing it as a moral and humanitarian burden.
- Whitewashing Aggression: Recasting bombardment, siege, and starvation as “natural consequences” of resistance actions.
- Normalising Defeat: Turning material losses into a long-term intellectual conviction that resistance is futile.
Thus, the battle moves from the physical battlefield to the arena of perception — where Israel no longer needs to market itself directly. It suffices that its local proxies speak Arabic, adopt regional dialects, and appear rational, pragmatic, and modern.
Tools of Execution: Media, Economy, and Imagination
The report outlines a three-layered system through which this narrative normalisation operates:
1. Funded Media and Digital Influence Networks
Headlines, visuals, and talk shows designed to evoke emotion while detaching events from their political context.
Guests labelled as “experts” repeatedly reproduce the same idea: that the problem lies not in occupation, but in “reckless resistance.”
2. The Depoliticisation of Numbers
Casual references to casualties, damage, and displacement are presented as technical statistics, devoid of political agency — as if destruction occurs naturally, not by deliberate policy.
This empties the tragedy of its perpetrator, transforming massacre into misfortune.
3. The Commodification of the Future
Promises of “prosperity,” “economic corridors,” and “regional integration” are sold as substitutes for justice.
In this narrative, dignity becomes a luxury, and freedom becomes negotiable.
Why Abu Dhabi Is at the Centre of Criticism
The study argues that the UAE has provided the financial infrastructure, media platforms, and elite networks to lead this psychological and cultural re-engineering.
It excels at using soft power — public diplomacy, cultural production, and international lobbying — to legitimise the status quo of occupation under the banners of “stability” and “moderation.”
The Emirati-Israeli partnership is thus no longer an exchange of interests, but a joint narrative project that redefines:
- Resistance as recklessness,
- Occupation as partnership,
- Normalisation as the only viable solution.
Such cognitive engineering, when wrapped in the language of “stability” and “peace,” effectively redraws the moral map of the Arab conscience.
The Consequences of Passive Acceptance
If this trajectory continues unchallenged, the report warns of three major outcomes:
- Erosion of the Cause’s Legitimacy: Palestine would be reframed from a cause of liberation into a mere “administrative dispute.”
- Normalisation of Impunity: When crimes are detached from their perpetrators, the demand for justice fades.
- Collapse of Action: A generation of Arabs grows up convinced that resistance is pointless and that coexistence with occupation is the only pragmatic choice.
How to Resist the “Narrative Normalisation” Project
The study concludes that confronting this regional propaganda requires a three-tiered counter-strategy:
- Investigative and Accountability Media:
Rebuild independent newsrooms that track funding, expose disinformation networks, and document Israeli and allied influence operations instead of merely reacting to them. - Reclaiming Language:
Dismantle misleading terminology such as “cost of resistance” and “realistic defeat”, while reviving a lexicon rooted in justice, human rights, and international law. - Transnational Social Coalitions:
Unite academics, journalists, unions, artists, and human-rights organisations to produce counter-knowledge that unmasks indirect agency and rebuilds the intellectual immunity of Arab audiences.
Conclusion
The UAE’s transformation into an indirect communication arm for Israeli narratives represents one of the most sophisticated forms of regional normalisation — not through diplomacy, but through the colonisation of perception.
The battle for Palestine today is as much a war of truth and awareness as it is a struggle for land and sovereignty.
