by Yoni Kempinski
Former Rabbi of the UAE Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie tells Arutz Sheva that since the war in Gaza began, Jews in the country have stopped identifying themselves openly and have stopped gathering for prayer.
Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, the former Senior Rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates and the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities, sat down in the Arutz Sheva-Israel National News studio to discuss the current situation in the Jewish community in the UAE amid the war in Gaza.
Rabbi Abadie explains that the community in the UAE has changed. "When I started several years ago, after the Abraham Accords, we built up the community so beautifully. It was flourishing, it was growing, when I started there were 200 Jews living there and I grew to 1,500, if not more. They built Jewish businesses, Kosher restaurants, and synagogues, and we were doing everything very publicly and with the support of the government and the Emirati population was very welcoming."
However, Rabbi Abadie says that when the war began things began to change: "Many Israelis came back to Israel. The government was concerned for the safety of the Jewish people and communities, and they requested that we be much more quiet in a sense, not to engender any animosity for either tourists or anybody who may live there who has animosity toward the Jewish people."
He emphasizes that these requests were for the safety of the Jewish community and not an act against it: "The UAE is one of the safest countries in the world, probably number two or three in the world. So they're very concerned about the population, including the Jewish population, and certainly, they don't want any event against the Jewish community."
As part of the security measures, Rabbi Abadie explains that Jews in the UAE do not wear kippot or other signs of their Judaism and even refrain from gathering to pray at synagogues.
According to him, while the situation is not optimal, "The Jewish community continues to live, continues to work, continues to do what they need to do as residents of the place, but they are trying to live much more carefully."
Rabbi Abadie sees the Abraham Accords as the right path forward in the region, "I think the Abraham Accords were the greatest achievement that Israel and the UAE, together with Bahrain and Morocco were able to achieve. I think it's the path for the future: peace agreements with many other Arab countries."
He adds: "As we speak, even during the war, the agreements are functioning well and nothing has stopped functioning well, and they're looking forward to after the war for the agreement to expand more."
He firmly believes Saudi Arabia will join the accords, "It's a question of not if, but when."
After leaving his position in the Gulf, Rabbi Abadie returned to New York and now serves as a rabbi there. He speaks about the current situation in the city: "When I came back to New York, I found a different New York. I found a New York where the Jewish community is much more concerned about their safety. Unfortunately, the protests, by students and the population that lives there, dare to show their anti-Jewish or anti-Israeli position, and they're showing it publicly. That has been of concern."
Rabbi Abadie concludes with wishes for the upcoming Jewish New Year: "This is a very important month where we get closer to the Almighty. So this is the month in which we pray first of all for unity amongst our people here and everywhere in the world. Secondly for safety, peace, and for all the soldiers to be protected and win and they should be healed also."
Yoni Kempinski
Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/395754
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