NYTimes: "Netanyahu Privately Condoned U.S. Plan to Sell Arms to U.A.E., Officials Say" (9/3/2020)

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/03/us/politics/israel-uae-weapons.html

The Emirates and Saudi Arabia have a close relationship with the White House. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, views the two nations as important in efforts — which thus far have failed — to broker a peace deal between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Moreover, Mr. Trump has embraced them as significant buyers of American weapons despite resistance in Congress over the killing of thousands of civilians in the Saudi-led air war in Yemen, often with American bombs.

Some Pentagon and State Department officials are uncomfortable with the influence that the Emiratis wield within the White House and National Security Council, and they were unhappy that Emirati military officials received a classified briefing about the F-35 in July.

Some members of Congress and their aides have expressed similar worries, pointing to the Emirati military’s role in the catastrophic Yemen war. The Emirates withdrew most of its forces last year, but it has deployed jets in the Libyan civil war, raising new concerns among American lawmakers.