Miri Regev's blunder could cost us relations with Dubai | Aviram Blais

Aviram Blais's column analyzes Transportation Minister Miri Regev's demand to halt Flydubai flights, which was published in the media before the official discussion. The author argues this is a strategic blow to relations with the UAE, emphasizing the importance of the economic and security partnership and the diplomatic sensitivity required with a partner that withstood pressure during the war.

Aviram Blais's column analyzes Transportation Minister Miri Regev's demand to halt Flydubai flights, which was published in the media even before the discussion where she was supposed to present it to the Prime Minister and security officials. The author argues this is a strategic blow to relations with the UAE, not just a public relations failure. He emphasizes the importance of the economic and security partnership, which includes trade of over three billion dollars a year and the movement of about one and a half million passengers. Blais notes that Flydubai, owned by Dubai's investment corporation, was the only air bridge between the countries when Israeli airlines were barred from landing in Dubai, and that any public step against it is read in the Emirates as a step against the government. He warns that a partner that withstood pressure during the war requires special diplomatic sensitivity, and that one sentence could bring down a bridge.