Days after the United Arab Emirates rocked the Middle East by revealing it would normalise relations with Israel, the first publicly announced meeting took place between officials from the erstwhile foes. It involved two of the countries’ most powerful men, both of whom typically operate in the shadows.
On one side was Yossi Cohen, head of Mossad, Israel’s feared overseas spy agency; on the other was Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser. The meeting in August last year in the UAE suggested that intelligence co-operation would be at the core of the new alliance. And it thrust Sheikh Tahnoon — who has emerged as one of the UAE’s most influential figures — into the limelight.
His rise over the past decade epitomises the nexus between power, business and national strategic interest in Gulf states such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where a younger, tech-savvy and security-minded generation of royals have come to the fore. It also offers a glimpse into the inner workings of Abu Dhabi’s absolute monarchy, where the ruling family and a clique of trusted lieutenants dominate security and key sectors of the economy, blurring the lines between state and private enterprise.
“He oversees everything. He’s the trusted under-the-radar guy,” says Kirsten Fontenrose, former senior director for Gulf Affairs at the National Security Council in the Trump administration. “Part of that is mystique. He’s quiet and he’s always everywhere. He’ll be in the US, and the next thing you know he’s in Tehran, but he won’t have told you.”
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