"Praise Allah, There Are Still People Like You": Jeffrey Epstein Nurtured Israel-Emirates Ties Before Abraham Accords
The UAE has been making an ambitious play over the past decade for regional dominance stretching from their own shores to the Horn of Africa and beyond, paying particular attention to control of the Red Sea. In addition to its recent gambit with Israel to entrench a separatist state in Somaliland over the furious objections of both the Arab League and African Union, Abu Dhabi has begun challenging its own neighbors by bolstering an ill-fated secessionist uprising in southern Yemen. That movement was suppressed by a rapid Saudi-backed military offensive that has sharpened tensions with the Emiratis.
The UAE has learned to punch above its weight by mastering the art of buying influence with global elites—particularly in Washington, but also through a deepening strategic partnership with Israel that came into the open with the 2020 Abraham Accords. The story of how a diminutive Gulf state came to sit so close to the center of global power has never been fully told. And Jeffrey Epstein played a part in coaching Emirati elites and building the relationship between Israel and the UAE.
The story below, based on private correspondence from Epstein spanning more than a decade, tells the story of his intimate relationship with Sultan Sulayem, the powerful head of the Dubai Ports World financial empire and an individual closely connected to the Emirati ruling families. The story helps reveal the hidden backstory of the Abraham Accords, which were signed one year after Epstein’s death.
snip>
Epstein was a trusted friend and advisor to Sulayem, but his network appeared to extend across the stratum of Emirati elites. A journalist who visited Epstein in 2013 noted a photograph displayed in the anteroom of his New York mansion, showing Epstein with Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, wearing beachwear and snorkel gear.
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-united-arab-emirates-sultan-sulayem-dubai-dp-world