Report: Israel Recruited UAE Presidential Adviser

One of the most influential advisers to the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ), has reportedly been actively collaborating with Israeli intelligence services since 2015, according to a report released by Iranian news agency Tasnim, citing trusted security sources. According to the security source, the presidential adviser first attracted the attention of Israeli security agencies in 2007 due to his political stances. Israeli efforts to approach and exploit him then entered a new phase in 2015. The source added that the adviser’s potential strategic value for Tel Aviv was first identified by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through a special security unit known as ‘Mamad’. This Mamad unit is said to have played a key role in identifying, building a relationship with, and influencing the political views of the adviser. Subsequently, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad, reportedly took over the adviser’s file in 2018. Since then, Mossad has held full control in maintaining direct communication with the adviser. This disclosure emerges amid security cooperation between the UAE and Israel that has now reached unprecedented levels of openness. In early May, the Financial Times reported that the Israeli regime had transferred advanced weapons systems to the UAE during the US-Israeli war against Iran. The weaponry included the latest version of the Iron Beam laser defence system and a drone detection platform known as ‘Spectro’. The deployment of this military technology also involved dozens of Israeli military personnel operating the systems directly on UAE soil. Later that same month, i24NEWS, citing American sources, reported that both sides are working to establish a joint fund to finance and develop weapons systems, including air defence and anti-drone platforms.