Emirates Leaks: 5,000 Israelis obtained UAE citizenship in 3 months

Some 5,000 Israelis have obtained UAE citizenship within the past three months, after amending the law on granting citizenship in the Persian Gulf Arab country, according to a report.

Citing sources, the website of Emirates Leaks revealed on Thursday a wide turnout from the Israelis under the cover of investment in the UAE, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The sources underlined that the UAE authorities allow the acquisition of citizenship for investors and entrepreneurs without the need to give up their original citizenship.

With Emirati citizenship, the Israelis would be able to cross the Persian Gulf and Arab countries without a prior visa, according to the sources.

A former adviser to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi has warned about the repercussions of the United Arab Emirates’ demographic change, questioning the loyalty of those who have recently obtained UAE citizenship.

“Hundreds of those who obtained UAE citizenship recently do not speak Arabic and their children do not make the effort to learn it and have nothing to do with Islam and do not know the customs, traditions and values of the Emirates and were given the right to retain their original nationality and we do not know the extent of their loyalty to the state,” Abdulkhaleq Abdulla said via Twitter on Wednesday.

Abdulla, a professor of political science, added that the UAE’s demographic landscape in the next 50 years will be “dysfunctional” and “strange”.

Earlier this year, the United Arab Emirates announced plans to grant foreigners citizenship as part of efforts to stimulate its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Persian Gulf country, which is home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, said last November it plans to overhaul its religious laws, including loosening alcohol restrictions and allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate.

The UAE has already begun to move in the direction of dismissing its deep-rooted Islamic and Arabic values by normalizing its relations with the occupying regime of Israel – a move that was condemned across the Muslim world.

MG