UAE rushes to defend Egypt after Netanyahu accuses Cairo of failing to crack down on smuggling
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Egypt of failing to keep Hamas from smuggling weapons through the Gaza-Egypt border on Monday night, the United Arab Emirates puts out a statement expressing “its full solidarity with the Arab Republic of Egypt in the face of Israeli allegations and claims regarding the Philadelphi crossing, and strongly condemns and denounces the offensive Israeli statements in this regard, which threaten stability and exacerbate the situation in the region.”
The UAE’s foreign ministry calls on Israel to “stop the escalation and not take steps that exacerbate tension and instability in the region, stressing its rejection of all practices that violate international legitimacy resolutions and threaten further escalation.”
Top Netanyahu aide and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer also panned Egypt, mentioning Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi by name in a Wednesday interview, and saying that Cairo failed in practice to secure the border, regardless of its intentions.
