In Widening Saudi-UAE Rift, Israel Is at the Heart of a Narrative War, by Mira Al Hussein – 19 February 2026

From +972 Magazine

Saudi accusations that Abu Dhabi acts as Israel’s proxy have ignited a media firestorm. But similar anti-Israel sentiments circulate within the UAE itself.

In late January, an article by Ahmed Al-Tuwaijri, a prominent Saudi academic who had served as a dean at King Saud University and a member of the Saudi Shura Council, caused a stir on social media. While affirming that “the Saudi people hold nothing but affection, brotherhood, and respect for the Emirati people,” Al-Tuwaijri accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of throwing itself “into the arms of Zionism and [accepting] that the Emirates be Israel’s Trojan horse in the Arab world,” as a means to gain regional power and weaken Saudi Arabia — a betrayal of the Kingdom’s longstanding “assistance and care for the Emirates.”

The immediate context for Al-Tuwaijri’s article was the growing rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with Yemen as the main faultline. In December, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a UAE-backed separatist group that was part of the fragile anti-Houthi alliance, launched a surprise offensive to seize large areas in the oil-rich province of Hadhramaut.

When deescalation efforts between Saudi Arabia and the STC failed, Riyadh moved swiftly to cut what it viewed as the STC’s main lifeline: UAE military support. Later that month, Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment sent from the UAE to Yemen’s port city of Mukalla.

What began as a localized flare-up soon grew into a heated confrontation across multiple flashpoints. After sidelining the UAE in Yemen, Saudi Arabia moved to roll back Emirati influence along the western Red Sea. It deepened support for the Sudanese Armed Forces against the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces, financing drones supplied by its defense partner, Pakistan, while simultaneously bolstering the authority of Somalia’s central government, prompting Mogadishu to cancel all agreements with the UAE.

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Mira Al Hussein is a sociologist of the Arab states of the Gulf and a Research Fellow at the Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh.

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