There is "really no alternative" to Donald Trump's plan to turn the Gaza Strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East" once the Palestinian enclave has been emptied of its population. It wasn't in the US or Israel that these words were uttered, but in Dubai last month by Yousef Al-Otaiba, the very powerful ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Washington.

Al-Otaiba, who has been in office since 2008, has taken advantage of this exceptional longevity to forge close ties with American leaders of all stripes and to develop an impressive promotional campaign for his country. He was at the heart of the negotiation of the Strategic Partnership Treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, signed in September 2020 in Washington as part of the Abraham Accords. It was during this time that he forged a relationship with Trump and his entourage that is of vital importance today.

The ambassador is very close to the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and to his younger brother, Abdallah bin Zayed, the Emirati foreign minister. In other words, far from being a slip of the tongue, these remarks reflected the profound orientation of the United Arab Emirates, even if it means, as at the recent Arab summit in Cairo, formally aligning itself with the official consensus on support for a Palestinian state.

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