How Arab Nations Fuels Israel's Genocide In Gaza
The Arab nations has been accused of the deafening silence from their part on Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. While Bahrain and UAE normalised ties with Tel Aviv through the US-brokered Abraham Accord in 2020, other countries like Saudi Arabia, and Qatar were accused of playing it more discreet. Doha was inculpated of hiding behind the “mediator” role. The latest ‘Qatargate’ scandal does not help in the matter either.
When the Arab leaders made sure to keep its support of Israel under the lid, US, one of Israel’s biggest ally, and Tel Aviv itself acknowledged it several times. During his first term, US President Donald Trump once warned that “Israel would be in big trouble without Saudi Arabia,” while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Arab leaders now view Israel “not as their enemy, but their greatest ally,” adding that they “want to see us defeat Hamas – the resistance group of Gaza.”
Economic and military
Despite the increasing calls for the boycotting Israel, the trade between Israel and the Gulf countries only went up. Reportedly, UAE now ranks as Israel’s top Arab trade partner, while Bahrain’s commerce with Tel Aviv spiked by a staggering 950 percent during the first 10 months of the Gaza war. Qatar has exported crude materials for plastics used in Israeli industries, said the report. Even amid war and boycott efforts, “kosher-certified” goods from Arab countries continue to enter Israeli markets. Kosher certification means a product’s ingredients and production process comply with Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), verified by a rabbinic agency.
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Bahrain officially recognises products made in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank as ‘Made in Israel’ product. In 2020, on his visit to Israel, Bahrain’s commerce minister, Zayed R. Alzayani said, “There are no restrictions or special treatment or special rules. We have started a new chapter with Israel”, as quoted by media.
As per media reports, Arab money is directly fueling Israeli settlement expansion. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar have funneled money into Avenue Partners, a firm chaired by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who remains involved in advising the Trump administration from afar. The money then flows into Phoenix Holdings, which finances key banks involved in settlement construction – Leumi, Hapoalim, and Discount Bank – as well as telecom firms like Cellcom and Partner, and construction companies like Electra and Shapir, all of which operate inside occupied Palestinian territory, reports The Cradle.
Arab’s helping hands to Israel was more evident when Yemen’s Houthis caused the Red Sea crisis. When Houthis attacked vessels having links with Israel, pledging support for Palestinians, 70 percent of Tel Aviv’s food imports were cut off, and it was the Gulf states that rushed to patch the breach. UAE created an on-land logistics corridor from Dubai to Tel Aviv via Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Bahrain repurposed its ports to serve an alternate shipping hubs for Israeli goods arriving from India and China.
Speaking of military aid to Israel, from the earliest days of Israel’s genocide on Gaza, the UAE has doubled down its strategic military relationship with Israel. UAE-linked firm, Yugoimport-SDPR, exported $17.1 million worth of weapons to Israel via military aircraft directly involved in bombing Gaza, as per 2024 Balkan Insight report.
That is not all. UAE’s state-owned defense giant EDGE holds shares in Israeli military contractors like Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), companies that retrofit Emirati planes into military freighters. The Arab nation has also welcomed offers from Israeli weapons manufacturers like Bayt Systems and Third Eye Systems. The country also proudly hosted 34 Israeli defense firms at IDEX 2025, a major arms expo used to secure deals with the Israeli Occupation Force.
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While Saudi Arabia did not formally normalised ties, it has been militarising its ties with Israel through indirect channels. Purchasing Israeli systems like the TOW missile through US-based subsidiaries of Elbit Systems is an evident of this. Riyadh’s latest purchasing of surveillance drones from South Africa, which are disassembled and reassembled to mask their Israeli origins is also notable, said the report. A recent anti-drone system, suspected to be designed by Israeli firm RADA, was spotted at the Royal Saudi Air Defense base in Tabuk, near King Faisal Air Base.
Doha reportedly continues to source spare parts for tanks, armored vehicles, and aerial tankers from Israeli suppliers, and its military has participated in joint drills involving Israel and other Persian Gulf states – including exercises in Greece held recently.
Logistic, Spyware, and Surveillance
The Arab nations have facilitated the flow of weapons to Israel through logistical support channels. When US ramped up its “unprecedented airlift” of tens of thousands of missiles, munitions, and Iron Dome components, the Gulf’s airspace and bases became the crucial part, reported The Cradle.
At least 18 transfers were documented of US arms shipments passing through Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, and especially Qatar, where the Al-Udeid Air Base – home to US Central Command – is situated. Several others were routed through Cyprus to avoid direct flight tracking.
The Dubai International Airport is a waypoint for Israeli reservists flying in from Asia. Coordinated through the Israeli consulate in Dubai, these flights funneled occupation force into the war in Gaza. Emirati authorities also arranged leisure retreats for Israeli troops between deployments and allowed Jewish organizations in Dubai to send care packages to the occupation military.
While Donald Trump prepared to visit Saudi Arabia earlier this month, seeking investment in US infrastructure, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen unveiled plans for a regional oil pipeline stretching from Ashkelon (Asqalan of Palestine) to Saudi Arabia via Eilat. The project comes under the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a US-backed alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with links running through the UAE, Jordan, and occupied Palestinian lands.
Similar is the announcement made by Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa – son of the Bahraini king and chair of Bapco Energy – regarding the sale of a pipeline stake to BlackRock, the US investment giant notorious for its financial ties to Israeli settlements.
In 2024, Axios reported a secret meeting between Bahrain and Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi and senior military officials from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt. The summit was reportedly overseen by US Central Command, and it focused on countering Iranian retaliation and disrupting weapons flow to Gaza from resistance forces in Iraq and Yemen – operations that often transit through airspaces controlled by Arab countries.
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Like US, Nasser bin Hamad openly declared Bahrain’s commitment to disrupting Iranian response operations in coordination with the US Fifth Fleet stationed in Manama. Reportedly, Bahrain now relies on Israeli firms for anti-drone systems, satellite surveillance, and cybersecurity; notable to this is collaboration involving Bahraini company Crescent Technologies and Israeli cyber defense powerhouse CyberArk.
UAE firms also signed deals with XM Cyber – co-founded by a former Mossad chief – to secure national energy infrastructure. XM Cyber works in tandem with Rafael and other elite Israeli military firms as part of a consortium targeting sensitive Gulf markets, including oil, energy, and data. At the same time, Orpak Systems, another Israeli company, has quietly entered Arab oil sectors under nondescript branding to avoid detection.
Except for the occasional verbal outrage, declaration of aid, The Arab nations have quietly tied themselves with Israel’s war on Palestine. Through investment flows, arms deals, intelligence cooperation, and energy infrastructure, they have become vital enablers of the genocide in Gaza.
Taking the track record of logistic, military, and energy exchanges between Gulf countries and Israel, behind the closed doors, Arab nations have assisted Tel Aviv to prosecute its war on Palestine.
