Epstein leveraged his friendship with the chief of DP World to pitch Israeli logistics infrastructure and cybersecurity investments to the UAE.
On December 26, 2025, Israel became the first country to recognize the Republic of Somaliland as an independent state, signing a mutual declaration “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.” The surprise diplomatic announcement landed after months of public advocacy from one of Somaliland’s most important foreign investors: Dubai’s DP World, whose chief publicly argued for recognition at a conference in October—touting hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the company’s port at Berbera.
The Israeli move inflamed the government of Somalia, and drew denunciations from the African Union and Arab League. Formal recognition of Somaliland strengthens the UAE’s logistics hub in Berbera, where Israel is already building up a military base to protect their Red Sea shipping interests from drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi government. Israel’s efforts to shore up the government in Hargeisa come as the UAE continues its own brash series of interventions in the Horn of Africa, and support for the genocidal Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.
The strategic gambit in Somaliland marks another chapter in the deepening relationship between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi. In the last two decades of his life, American financier Jeffrey Epstein acted as an informal diplomatic bridge between Israel and the United Arab Emirates—through his intimate friend Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of DP World and a close associate of the ruler of Dubai.
Epstein took a keen interest in DP World, one the world’s largest container terminal operators, which controls the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) in Dubai, an essential logistics hub for trade transiting through the Persian Gulf. JAFZA is the U.S. Navy’s most frequently visited foreign port, and the U.S. has more ships in UAE ports than any other port outside the United States. (more...)
Related:
Epstein brokered meetings between Ehud Barak and UAE billionaire before Abraham Accords: Report
No comments:
Post a Comment