The Network Has an ‘Israeli Bomb’; Why Not To Use the Internet While in the UAE

The Israeli occupation's targeting of control of the UAE's internet sector has not been an easy or new task, but a strategic plan that has been going on for years, with its poles used by the occupying power to reach the depth of that sector.

According to numerous international reports, the UAE is the world's number of internet and social media users monitoring the efficiency of the Internet and internet speed, including the Ookla index and Speed test website.

In a report dated January 14, 2021, The Best Accounting Program, a data review firm, reported that 99 percent of the UAE's population and visitors use both the Internet and social media.

This has made the Internet market a focal point for Tel Aviv and the officers of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, and in addition to the security and economic dimensions, there are dimensions related to cyberwarfare and information circulation, all of which are important to the Zionist entity.

New Pioneers

In its November 26, 2021 issue, The French magazine Intelligence Online revealed that Israeli companies and their presidents have become the new pioneers of the UAE's internet market and play a prominent role in controlling the internet within the country.

The intelligence magazine reported that "Israel," with the support of Abu Dhabi's ruling Al Nahyan family, aims to have the UAE as its cyber base, to control the rest of the surrounding regional markets.

"Former Israeli Special Forces officer Tomer Avnon, one of Israel's leading internet leaders, is looking to capture a large share of the UAE's internet market with his partner, the global gold group AGG, close to the ruling family," it said.

Avnon, who heads the Israeli defense and intelligence company Avnon Group, has been active for years in Abu Dhabi and is keen with AGG to develop the Internet jointly, the French magazine showed.

After retiring, Avnon began his life as an officer in the Israeli Special Forces and, after retiring, went to the private sector as an agent of the Israeli Aerospace Industries Company (IAI) in Africa, where he met with officials from Dubai, including the Director of Operations of the Dubai Police Kamel Al Suwaidi.

Intelligence Online added that since then, the Israeli officer has gone to the UAE to start his cyber activity, even years before the Gulf state moved to formal normalization with Tel Aviv.

Golden Group

The nature of the relationship between Israeli experts and companies, and the UAE Internet sector, began in 2006, when the occupying power, through its agents, introduced intelligence and cybersecurity tools as a participant in Abu Dhabi's program to advance the local Internet market, Emirates Leaks showed on July 24, 2019.

At that time, two Israeli figures who played a central role in Israel's penetration policy of the UAE network, the first of whom was Tomer Avnon, who was described as "the leader of this secret market," and Avi Leumi, former director of Israeli air defense systems, were strongly involved in the process, and had a close relationship with the princes of Abu Dhabi.

On the UAE side, which has helped overcome all obstacles for Israeli experts and facilitated control, is the AGG Group, a part-owned state-owned defense company through the Tawazun Fund, which the Al Nahyan family uses in armed support operations for its regional allies.

For "Israel," what it has provided to the UAE's internet and cybersecurity industry, according to Emirates Leaks, was the most important step in establishing advanced diplomacy in the Middle East, through which it was able to openly attract governments to normalization, which was clearly demonstrated in 2020.

Tahnoun and Pardo

The other part about the dimensions of the Israeli presence at the heart of the UAE's internet and communications sector is the advanced relationship between the godfather of normalization, UAE national security adviser Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Tamir Pardo, former head of The Israeli Mossad, sponsor of Israeli-Emirati cyber cooperation.

On January 25, 2021, the British Financial Times reported on the role of Tahnoun bin Zayed, particularly with regard to normalization with the Israeli occupation.

To ensure the proper functioning of cybersecurity operations in Abu Dhabi, Pardo consults with Venture Capital company Synaptic Capital with headquarters in Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.

Once established, the company had established a relationship with Trust International Group, a defense company and part of the Empire of Tahnoun.

Pardo also oversaw the arrival of Israeli cybersecurity giant XM Cyber in Abu Dhabi, a company he co-founded between 2011 and 2015, when he was Mossad president, at which time the device significantly increased its cooperation with its UAE counterparts in the Internet market, according to the British newspaper.

Espionage

The most dangerous thing that the intense Israeli presence in the UAE internet sector produced was not only targeting opponents, but also keeping an eye on citizens and residents of the Gulf state.

On July 15, 2021, Al Jazeera's microscope website revealed documents confirming that the UAE had provided information concerning more than nine million residents to "Israel."

Among them is a leaked document stating that the UAE Foreign Ministry will send detailed information in an official letter signed by the Director of the Department of Diplomats Affairs Hamad Matar al-Shamsi, to control the International Expo 2020 in a programmed and accurate manner to provide security."

The document showed that information sent to the Israeli side by UAE residents included their photographs, names, nationalities, copies of their passports, residence addresses and phone numbers.

Some 42,000 Chinese, 49,500 Americans, 1.5 million Pakistanis, 13,000 Turks, 17,000 Russians and 28,000 French nationals are among those living in the UAE, whose information has gone to the Israeli side.

In addition to 75,000 Palestinians, 450,000 Egyptians and about 64,000 Lebanese.

A total of nearly eight million people of different nationalities were sent to "Israel" from within the UAE, according to Al-Jazeera Microscope.

Human Rights Condemnation

That situation has led to criticism by international human rights organizations of the UAE, including Human Rights Watch, which launched its report on October 1, 2021, entitled: The UAE is a false narrative of tolerance.

"UAE authorities are using Expo 2020 Dubai to promote a public image of openness that is contrary to the government's efforts to prevent scrutiny of its systematic human rights violations through online censorship," the report said.

"Since 2015, UAE authorities have ignored or rejected requests for entry into the country by UN experts, human rights researchers, academics and critical journalists.

"Increased local government censorship has led to widespread self-censorship by UAE residents, UAE-based institutions and media," it said.

On January 26, 2021, the New York Times published a report accusing UAE intelligence services of being able to directly hack into individuals' personal data, such as messages and video conversations, geographical location, a phone camera and microphone, and all internet-related operations.