“Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator for Republican and Democratic administrations, said that another lure for the Emiratis was the possibility of obtaining advanced weaponry they have long sought, which the United States sells only to countries at peace with Israel to preserve its qualitative military edge in the region.
“’It doesn’t mean the limits are gone, but they’re more favorable,’ Mr. Ross said. He said he would expect the U.A.E. to get weapons like advanced drones.
“Mr. Ross said that the Emiratis had pressed for the agreement with Israel after concluding that Mr. Netanyahu was bent on annexation. ‘Nothing could stop Netanyahu except Trump, so they had to give Trump a reason to say no,’ he said. ‘And normalization did the trick’…”