Riyadh has unleashed a fierce media campaign targeting the Emirati leadership and its wider political project. Notably, the media offensive has framed the UAE as seeking to fragment Arab states for its own – and Israel’s – political gain.
This week, Saudi state channel Al-Ekhbariya alleged that the UAE has been “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” across North Africa and the Horn of Africa. Prominent Saudi writer Salman al-Ansari went further, calling UAE economic support for Egypt “one of the largest political deception operations” in modern history.
Last week, Saudi academic and columnist Ahmed bin Othman al-Tuwaijri accused the UAE of deliberately undermining Saudi Arabia by throwing itself “into the arms of Zionism” and serving as “Israel’s Trojan horse” in the region.
Notably, the UAE has responded less through its own media than through its closest strategic ally, Israel. In recent days, attacks on Saudi Arabia have come from pro-Israel lobbying networks, American media figures and pro-Israel US politicians.
On 23 January, the Anti-Defamation League posted on X in support of the UAE, warning of the “increasing frequency and volume of prominent Saudi voices … using openly antisemitic dog whistles and aggressively pushing anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric”.
Last week, pro-Israel American broadcaster Mark Levin posted a series of anti-Saudi remarks to his five million X followers. On 26 January, for example, he wrote that he would “never forgive” Saudi Arabia for the 11 September attacks and accused bin Salman of “trying to destroy the UAE… our closest Arab ally”.
Pro-Israel US Senator Lindsey Graham also rebuked the kingdom for its “attack on the United Arab Emirates”. Jewish Insider, the Jerusalem Post, Axios, the American Enterprise Institute and other outlets have also come to the UAE’s defence.