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A state-linked know-how firm within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed a partnership with two main Israeli protection firms to research methods of combating the coronavirus pandemic.
The settlement, introduced late Thursday, comes simply weeks after the UAE warned Israel that continuing with its deliberate annexation of components of the occupied West Bank would upend its efforts to enhance ties with Arab states.
G42, an Abu Dhabi-based firm specializing in synthetic intelligence and cloud computing, signed a memorandum of understanding with Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries, the UAE’s state-run WAM information company reported. It mentioned executives held a signing ceremony by video hyperlink between the 2 international locations, which would not have diplomatic relations.
Rafael and IAI’s Elta subsidiary confirmed the settlement. Elta, which makes a speciality of sensors, radars, digital warfare and communication methods, mentioned they’d cooperate on research and know-how centered on synthetic intelligence, sensors and lasers.
They mentioned the collaboration wouldn’t solely profit the 2 international locations, however all the world because it grapples with the pandemic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to annex all of Israel’s West Bank settlements in addition to the strategic Jordan Valley, had introduced an settlement with the UAE every week in the past, with out offering specifics.
Only two Arab international locations, Jordan and Egypt, have made peace with Israel, with the remaining saying it should first resolve the battle with the Palestinians. But Israel has quietly improved ties with Gulf international locations in recent times, partially due to their shared issues about Iran.
In current weeks, senior UAE officers have warned that annexation would jeopardise these improved ties, however have additionally advised that the 2 international locations may put aside their political disputes to collaborate on humanitarian and different tasks.
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, would enable Israel to annex as much as 30 per cent of the West Bank, which it occupied within the 1967 struggle together with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians need all three territories to kind their future state.
The UN, European and Arab international locations have warned Israel towards annexation, which is extensively seen as a violation of worldwide legislation that might sprint any remaining hopes of reaching a two-state answer to the battle.
Group 42, often known as G42, is led by CEO Peng Xiao. He beforehand ran Pegasus, a subsidiary of DarkMatter, a cybersecurity agency based mostly within the UAE that has recruited Western intelligence brokers.
Since late 2016, Dubai police have partnered with Pegasus to make use of its “big data” software to pool hours of surveillance video to trace anybody within the emirate. DarkMatter’s hiring of former CIA and National Security Agency analysts has raised issues, particularly because the UAE has harassed and imprisoned human rights activists.
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