N

ewly released documents from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) show that disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein attempted to cultivate relationships with influential political and business figures across the Middle East.

The most immediate fallout in the region came with the resignation of Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chief executive and chair of Dubai-based ports operator DP World.

According to two sources familiar with the matter, the decision followed increased scrutiny after Bin Sulayem’s name appeared in the DOJ’s document release. DP World confirmed the leadership change but declined further comment. Bin Sulayem did not respond to requests for comment.

Dubai’s ruler also issued a decree appointing a new chairman for Dubai’s Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, one of several roles previously held by Bin Sulayem.

Email exchanges and personal correspondence

Some of the correspondence reviewed by Reuters included personal email exchanges between Epstein and Bin Sulayem. In one 2007 email, Bin Sulayem described meeting a woman in New York with whom Epstein had helped arrange contact.

An undated photograph included in the files shows Epstein and Bin Sulayem cooking together in what appears to be a relaxed setting.

Being named in the files does not constitute evidence of criminal wrongdoing. However, following the disclosure, some of DP World’s international financial partners raised concerns.

The UK development finance agency British International Investment (BII) and Canadian pension fund La Caisse announced they would pause new investments in DP World pending clarification. After the resignation was announced, both institutions signaled their willingness to continue cooperation under new leadership.

Attempted political influence during Qatar blockade

The DOJ documents suggest Epstein also attempted to engage political figures during the 2017–2021 blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.

In exchanges with Sheikh Jabor Yousuf Jassim Al Thani, a Qatari businessman and member of the ruling family, Epstein offered strategic advice during the diplomatic crisis. He reportedly criticized Qatar’s leadership at the time and suggested steps to improve relations with Washington.

Epstein urged Doha to consider strengthening ties with Israel to maintain favorable relations with then–U.S. President Donald Trump. Qatar ultimately maintained its policy course, and the regional blockade ended in 2021 when ties were restored.

Qatar’s current prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has not publicly commented on Epstein’s characterizations in the documents.

The files also reveal that Epstein discussed the potential public listing of Saudi Aramco in multiple email exchanges.

In correspondence dating back to 2016 and 2017, Epstein warned that a public offering could expose Saudi Arabia to legal risks and asset seizures. He also floated alternative proposals, including selling a major stake to China rather than pursuing a traditional IPO.

Saudi Aramco declined to comment on the emails.

Outreach to Egypt’s Mubarak family

Epstein’s network appeared to extend to Egypt as well. Documents show that following the 2011 ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak, a request for assistance from a family member — reportedly connected to Gamal Mubarak — was passed on to Epstein.

The nature of the requested assistance remains unclear, and Reuters was unable to determine whether Epstein took any action.

The large cache of emails, text messages and related documents reinforces what investigators have previously alleged: that Epstein sought to leverage his wealth and global access to build relationships with powerful figures in politics, finance, academia and business worldwide — including across the Middle East.

Reuters reported it could not determine how successful Epstein was in influencing decision-makers in the region.

The latest revelations add to ongoing scrutiny surrounding Epstein’s international connections, years after his 2019 death while in federal custody in the United States.

(Source: Reuters)

Although Donald Trump’s presidency is coming to an end soon, one of its most catastrophic quid pro quo foreign policies in the Middle East, namely the premature Israeli-Arab normalization, is unlikely to come to an end under Joe Biden’s administration. After all, Biden is a proud Zionist and a close friend of Israel. In August 2020, he hastened to applaud formally the UAE-Israel normalization deal and even took credit for paving its way.

There is, however, a notable difference between the two administrations. Under Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner has been tirelessly pressing Arab regimes not only to formalize and make their clandestine relationships with Israel public, but also to besiege the Palestinians economically, to bash their struggle in state-owned media, and to incite troll armies against them.

The Saudis under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) have been the clearest example of this malevolent endeavor. For instance, recently, a prominent Saudi prince, Bandar bin Sultan, whose son and daughter are the Saudi ambassadors to the U.K. and U.S. respectively, made a lengthy appearance on the Saudi TV channel Al-Arabiya in which he spared no effort at demonizing and dehumanizing the Palestinians.

While Biden’s administration is expected to continue to facilitate talks between Israel’s right-wing government and authoritarian Arab regimes, it’s unlikely that Biden would demand similar proof of loyalty from Arab dictators, given that he acknowledges the importance of the Palestinian Authority – not least of all to Israel’s security.

This was promptly reflected by a decline in Emirati trolling of Palestinians when Biden was announced as the winner of the 2020 elections. In no time, the UAE officially praised Biden, even though they engaged in unabashed and open cheering for Trump during the campaign and vote count.

The Motives behind Normalization

The groveling of Arab regimes to Israel’s right-wing politics makes clear the shameful logic that motivates selling out their fellow Palestinians and the consequences of these desperate actions.

There are two motives for the Arab regimes’ desperate efforts to normalize relations with Israel. First, there’s a transactional motive in which reactionary and repressive Arab regimes, such as the UAE, in return for normalization are hoping to get more cutting-edge technology (e.g. spyware, military equipment) from the U.S. and Israel to help them protect and bolster their thrones, boost their regional hegemony, and crackdown more efficiently on dissents, such as critics, activists, and human rights defenders.

The second motive is purely ideological – and this is where the danger lies. Gulf regimes, particularly the Saudis, blindly believe that the way to Washington begins in Tel-Aviv “because Jews control the world” as one Saudi diplomat once told the present author on the condition of anonymity. Unfortunately, Trump’s quid pro quo foreign policy has been adding fuel to the fire, bolstering this misguided belief that Israel is the gateway to please Washington and that seeking legitimacy from Netanyahu and the White House, rather than from their own people, is the way to stay in power.

The Consequences

This ideology of looking up to Israel for salvation and legitimacy not only undermines whatever prospects remain for Palestinian statehood and self-determination, but it also ignites a strong backlash against the protagonists of this sellout for abandoning decades of Arab consensus.

Traditionally, normalization could take the shape of a reward, such as in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, in which Israel is recognized and integrated regionally after ending occupation, but the API has been stagnant for decades.

Normalization can also be an incentive to rebuild trust and create momentum for progress towards peace, but before any specific advances are signed and sealed. A prominent example is when Egypt’s president Sadat visited Israel’s Knesset in 1977, but such charismatic leadership (albeit still controversial) is absent today in the Arab world where most leaders have lost their legitimacy in the eyes of their populations after the Arab Spring. Additionally, the UAE-Saudi axis is entirely uninterested in pushing progress forward on the Palestinian front. Hence, they purposefully made no mention of the occupied Palestinian territories in the Abraham Accords.

There is also popular normalization, where direct people-to-people initiatives may have a potential of making a breakthrough. The underlying idea is to build peace from the ground up, building trust face-to-face, in parallel with the activities of the political elites, to show the authentic acceptance Israel would receive, should it end its occupation. But this avenue is heavily undermined by the brutalities committed every day under Israel’s occupation and the severe marginalization of Israel’s peace camp by the current government under Netanyahu.

The current normalization frenzy has created a fourth paradigm that embraces the humiliating, defeatist path of normalizing relations with Israel regardless of, and untethered from, any progress on the Palestinian front. This new paradigm is more akin to a diplomatic conquest than to anything else.

So instead of Israel needing Arab recognition of its existence to secure its future, now it’s defeatist Arab dictators that are scrambling for Israel’s approval to secure their fragile thrones. This has allowed Netanyahu to portray himself as a strong conqueror who’s opening one Arab front after the other at no cost.

Netanyahu has been keen on making visible his ability to twist Arab leaders’ arms, humiliating, if not forcing them into submission. When the UAE-Israel normalization deal was announced, the UAE claimed that it would stop annexation. However, Netanyahu hastened to take to the stage to brag that annexation is still on the table.

By cozying up to Israel to bolster their power, Arab regimes are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. Defeatist normalization has portrayed those regimes as fragile, illegitimate, and desperate to secure their thrones by paying tribute to “King Bibi” and President Donald Trump.

This is a surefire recipe for eventually normalizing even more hate and violent rejectionism towards those regimes. Indeed, 90% of the Arab world on social media have been against normalization. Netanyahu himself understands this clearly. He admitted that the biggest threat to normalization is grassroots Arab opposition: “The greatest obstacle to the expansion of peace today is not found in the leaders of the countries around us. The obstacle is public opinion on the Arab street.” Arab rulers don’t seem to understand this reality. They don’t understand that they’re ostensibly shooting themselves in the foot by pursuing Israel’s support to secure their fragile thrones.