Dermer: What keeps me awake is not proposed F35 sale to UAE, but Iran
Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to Washington said "What keeps me up at night is the idea that somebody would return to the nuclear deal with Iran."
By OMRI NAHMIASUS SECRETARY of State Mike Pompeo speaks with the Emirati Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in January 2019.(photo credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON - Israel's Ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, said on Monday that Israel believes that the UAE is an ally in confronting Iran and does not think that the proposed arms sales to the Arab state will violate the US' commitment to maintaining Israel's qualitative military edge.In a joint interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Dermer and Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador to Washington, addressed the decision to normalize ties between the countries."What keeps me up at night is actually not the proposed F-35 sale to the Emirates," said Dermer. "What keeps me up at night is the idea that somebody would return to the nuclear deal with Iran."He noted that "both Israel and the Arab States in the region don't support returning back to the JCPOA, and we hope that the administration will talk to us when they come in.""I would hope that the incoming administration would understand that 2020 is not 2015," Dermer continued. "[We] hope what the new administration would do is to speak to your allies in the region, speak to Israel, speak to the Arab states. Try to forge a common policy with us because we are on the front lines, and we are in danger from an aggressive Iran," he added.He also addressed the proposed arms sales to the UAE. He said that one of the most important commitments that Israel has is the United States' commitment to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge. "And the way we turn that commitment from a principle into practice is we have our security officials sit down with US security officials anytime there is an arms package that is being proposed," Dermer added. "And we did that in September and October when the Emirates asked for certain weapon systems. And we went through that process with the United States. And we strongly believe that this agreement, this arms package, will not violate America's commitment or undermine the commitment to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge."Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba said in the interview that the region is changing and that attitudes are changing. "Mindsets are changing; people are tired of conflict. People are tired of ideology," he said. "They want the same things people here want: they want jobs; They want opportunities. They want hope. And in the UAE, there was very broad public support for this."He noted that another reason that the countries normalized ties is "the debate about annexation that was going to, I think, risk the progress that we were making with Israel [...] we took advantage of the situation, and we created a win-win deal ultimately for us, for Israel and for the United States."Meanwhile, the progressive Jewish group J Street issued a statement on Monday saying it opposes the arms sales. "J Street urges senators to vote in support of four resolutions rejecting the Trump administration's proposed sale of F-35 aircraft and other advanced weapons systems to the United Arab Emirates, said Dylan Williams, J Street's Senior Vice President for Policy and Strategy.Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced a series of resolutions disapproving the sale, and according to J Street, it "may receive a vote this week."
"It’s a core belief of J Street that diplomacy and negotiation, not the use of force, is the path to conflict resolution, security and stability in the Middle East,” Williams said in a press release. “If it were to go through, this proposed sale of a massive quantity of advanced, highly destructive weapons systems to the UAE would only fuel a region-wide arms race and exacerbate ongoing conflicts that are having devastating consequences for civilians’ human rights and are imperiling US interests.” “While the Israeli government has officially stated it does not object to the proposed sale, many Israeli security leaders have warned that the transfer of this type and volume of advanced weapons technology to the UAE could materially erode Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge — a cornerstone of Israel’s security that J Street steadfastly supports,” Williams added.
