Did Israel Give the United Arab Emirates an Iron Dome? What to Know
Israel reportedly sent the United Arab Emirates (UAE) an Iron Dome air defense system, along with troops to operate it, during the early phase of the Iran war, according to Axios on Sunday who citied Israeli and U.S. officials.
In late February, the U.S. and Israel targeted key military targets in Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other government leaders. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones targeting Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to send an Iron Dome battery with interceptors and several dozen IDF operators after a call with his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed, marking the first time Israel has deployed an Iron Dome into another country and making the UAE the first nation other than the U.S. and Israel to use the system.
Newsweek reached out to the Israeli foreign press office by email on Sunday evening for comment.
The move proved necessary as Iran fired around 550 ballistic missiles and cruise missiles and over 2,200 drones at the UAE during the conflict, most of which were intercepted, displaying that Iran has targeted the UAE more than any other country in the region during this time, according to the Emirati defense ministry.
However, Iran’s successful strikes on its neighbor across the Persian Gulf have destroyed vital energy infrastructure, declaring force majeure, meaning they are not obliged to maintain contracts and deliveries, for their oil industry just days into the conflict.
The UAE also suffered unknown damage to its aluminum production of which the UAE is the fifth-biggest producer in the world, meaning that two of the country’s main sources of industry and income have been damaged to a potentially catastrophic degree.
Israel and UAE’s Ties Grew Stronger During the Iran War
The connection between Israel and the UAE was already fairly robust prior to the conflict and only grew stronger as Iran targeted both nations, largely due to the UAE’s willingness to work with Israel, more so perhaps than any other nation in the region.
The UAE and Bahrain were the first nations to sign on to President Donald Trump‘s Abraham Accords, which aimed to improve relations between Israel and its regional neighbors and try to bring peace to the area.
That marked a significant change in protocol between Israel and the UAE and accelerated cooperation between the two nations in subsequent years. Normalization opened the door to deeper diplomatic, economic, and strategic engagement, with formal ties opening the door for other nations to consider stronger cooperation with Israel as well.
Israel and the UAE expanded military and security cooperation, and firms such as Israel’s Elbit Systems and the UAE’s EDGE Group could begin to collaborate.
The UAE, for example, also procured Israel’s SPYDER air-defense system and deployed Israeli-made Barak systems.
And the Iran war only served to tighten the ties between Israel and the UAE, to the point that an Emirati official wrote an article for the Arab Gulf States Institute in which he argued that Israel is one of the countries that has most provided “real assistance to the UAE.”
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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 6:57 PM.