UAE Allocates $1 Billion to Aid Israeli Businessman Facing Financial Troubles

The UAE has committed $1 billion to save a prominent Israeli businessman from financial collapse, further solidifying Abu Dhabi’s extensive partnership with Tel Aviv across various sectors.
The UAE’s investment fund (ADQ), headed by National Security Advisor Tahnoun bin Zayed, agreed to invest $1 billion in a company affiliated with Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi.

The Hebrew website Ynet News reported that Drahi was nearing bankruptcy due to the effects of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of major investors from Israeli companies.

Drahi, the owner of Israel’s HOT TV channel and the i24 news network, which has openly supported Israeli actions in Gaza, has announced a partnership with Abu Dhabi to retain ownership of Sotheby’s.

Drahi purchased the auction house in 2019 for $3.7 billion, but has faced financial difficulties, with his fortune shrinking from around $16 billion to just over a third of that value.

The Israeli telecom mogul is now worth $6.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Major investors have withdrawn from dealings with the Israeli businessman due to the Israeli war on Gaza and escalating tensions with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, leaving Drahi burdened with billions in debt.

The report noted that Abu Dhabi Investment Authority stepped in to become a minority partner in the deal, but still leaves Drahi with the majority ownership.

ADQ Deputy CEO Hamad Al Hammadi commented on Abu Dhabi’s decision to invest in the company, saying: “Our investment confirms our firm belief in the enduring value of the Sotheby’s brand and market-leading platform, and the ability of its management to execute on its growth agenda.”

Charles Stewart, CEO of Sotheby’s, expressed his satisfaction with the new partnership, saying that the funding from Abu Dhabi “will enable us to accelerate our strategic initiatives, expand our commitment to excellence in the art and luxury markets, and continue to innovate to better serve our clients around the world.”

He added, “If money talks, this deal clearly shows where alliances are forming and highlights the evolving dynamics of Israel’s relationship with the UAE and other countries involved in normalization.”

Last month, official data revealed that the UAE’s trade exports to Israel surged, accounting for 81.4% of total Arab exports to Israel, amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip for the past ten months.

The data revealed that five Arab countries, including the UAE, increased their trade with Israel during the period of war and brutal aggression on Gaza, with some even doubling the volume of trade compared to pre-war levels, despite widespread anger on the Arab street over the devastating Israeli assault on the Strip.

Data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics on Arab exports to Israel reveal that the UAE alone accounted for 81.4% of the total Arab exports to Israel during the war, with Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Bahrain following behind.

The data covers an eight-month period, from October 2023, when the war on Gaza began, until May 31, 2024.
Official Israeli statistics indicate that exports from these five Arab countries to Israel between October 2023 and the end of May 2024 amounted to $2.017 billion. The total value of trade, including both exports and imports, between these Arab countries and Israel during the war reached $2.841 billion.

Data analysis reveals that Arab exports to Israel during the Gaza war increased by $77 million compared to the same months in 2022 and 2023. From October 2022 to May 2023, the volume of exports from the five Arab countries to Israel totaled $1.94 billion.

Israeli imports to these five Arab countries also rose from the start of the Gaza war until the end of May 2024. The value of imports reached $825 million, up from $674 million during the same period in 2022 and 2023, marking an increase of $151 million.

Official data shows that the UAE saw the largest increase in trade relations with Israel during the Gaza conflict.
During the Gaza war, the UAE exported more to Israel than it imported from it. From October 2023 to May 31, 2024, the value of UAE exports to Israel totaled $1.641 billion.

While the value of exports to Israel during the same months of 2022 and 2023 was $1.480 billion, an increase of $161 million.

The data also showed a gradual increase in the volume of UAE exports to Israel with the start of the war on Gaza, as October 2023 was the lowest in terms of the volume of exports at $135.1 million, then the value of exports increased and reached its peak in January 2024, at $252 million, and in April 2024, at $249.6 million.

The UAE also topped the list of Arab countries in terms of the volume of Israeli imports it received during the war on Gaza, and according to the data, Israeli imports to the UAE amounted to $373.6 million.

The total trade between the UAE and Israel during the Gaza conflict is nearly equivalent to their trade exchange in 2022. Data shows that the combined value of exports and imports between the UAE and Israel during the war amounted to $2.014 billion.

In 2022, the volume of non-oil trade between the UAE and Israel reached $2.5 billion, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM). The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not specify the types of Emirati exports to Israel.

Analysis of official Israeli data reveals that the bulk of exports and imports during the Gaza war came from three Arab countries: the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. These countries signed normalization agreements with Israel in the latter half of 2020, known as the “Abraham Accords.”

According to the data, exports from the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco to Israel during the Gaza war totaled $1.704 billion out of a combined $2.17 billion from the five Arab countries.

The UAE was the largest exporter, sending $1.641 billion to Israel, followed by Bahrain with $53.2 million and Morocco with $10.1 million.

In terms of imports, these three Arab countries brought in $485.7 million from Israel during the conflict, with the UAE accounting for $373.6 million of this total.

In terms of imports, the three Arab countries imported $485.7 million from Israel during the war, including $373.6 million in imports to the UAE.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving at least 126,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.