Gulf Jews savour peace deal allowing them to live openly - and eat kosher

The makeshift synagogue tucked away inside a modest villa in Dubai is normally sparsely attended.

Rabbi Levi Duchman, the only resident rabbi in the UAE, is used to preaching to just a handful who feel safe enough to be open about their faith in the conservative Gulf kingdom.

But in recent weeks he has looked on in delight as his synagogue teems with new life.

Following the historic peace deal with Israel - signed under the gaze of Donald Trump - Jews have been given license to practice their religion for the first time. And with it a once-anonymous Jewish community is coming out of the shadows.

"This brings hope for Jewish life everywhere," the 27-year-old tells the Telegraph.

Rabbi Duchman - who has been in Dubai since 2015 under the blessing of Emirati rulers - says he has rapidly seen his congregation double, welcoming in residents he never knew existed and dozens of newly liberated Jewish tourists.

At this weekend’s Friday night dinner for the first night of Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year - around 300 people across the Emirates celebrated the festival, although events had to be spread this year across multiple locations to ensure social distancing for Covid-19.

The UAE and Israel have long been covert allies, with Israeli secret service agency, Mossad, working secretly with the Gulf state. The assassination of Hamas militant, Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, in a Dubai hotel in 2010, saw relations cool considerably.

Among the UAE's Muslim subjects there has always been deep suspicion of Israelis and Jews. The estimated 300-500 living in UAE were never given ‘Jewish’ as an option when filling forms asking them to state religion when applying for residency visas, only ‘other’.

A producer at one radio network admits to having been mandated that the word ‘Jewish’ was not even allowed to be used on air.

With his skullcap proudly resting on his head (he no longer has to disguise his kippah as a Muslim imam's hat), Rabbi Duchman has been busy helping roll out a koshering programme across the shimmering desert city since all Abu Dhabi hotels were mandated to serve meat prepared in accordance with strict Jewish rules.

Kosher wine too, a key part of festivals, religious holidays and blessings, will also soon be available to buy in licences shops where alcohol is exempt from strict Muslim prohibition.

“The peace deal will mean things like travelling to our families in Israel will be easier, and perhaps now, with the greater availability of kosher food, I won’t have to ask everyone to fill a suitcase of food for me every time they visit,” laughs Sarah Besnainou, a French expatriate based in UAE.

And the changes are affecting business life in Dubai too. Alex Peterfreund, a Belgian diamond and jewellery specialist, can now ship goods to Tel Aviv for the first time, a key market, as well as call family in Israel, which until August was banned.

He believes the Orthadox Jewish tradition, to which he is aligned, will grow "considerably". So much so, his community is preparing to open its own synagogue on the man-made Palm Jumeirah island, and bring its own rabbi.

He calls it “a development of 15 years in one month”, which many members of the community will need time to adjust to.

“We still have some people that maybe won't feel comfortable saying they're Jewish but that's their private decision,” he said. “This will take a little bit of time.”

Critics have been quick to point out that the peace deal merely normalises an already informal relationship between Israel and the UAE. In recent years there has been an increase in trade and scientific research collaboration between the two countries, estimated to be in the range of $300 million to $550 million.

Dr Dan Shaham Ben Hayum is one of few Israeli officials who has been working quietly behind the scenes in Dubai. But even as an envoy for scientific research and development, he was once flanked by bodyguards, concealing his nationality where necessary.

“It’s a question that always comes up,” he says of the relentless enquiries about his country of origin. “I wouldn’t be happy to say that before, but now I will.”

In neighbouring Bahrain, which struck a similar deal this week, there is also a spring in the step of Jews - all 50 of them.

Abe Nonoo, the head of the country's Jewish community, and an alumni of Shiplake College boarding school near Henley-On-Thames, claims that without the accord the group - which once numbered 900 - would have disappeared entirely.

The Bahraini synagogue is undergoing renovation, and he hopes it will be ready to reopen in February, under a rabbi believed to be of Bahraini descent, born and raised in London. It will be the first time in 40 years, the community has had a religious head.

The agreements - dubbed the Abraham Accords after the patriarch of the world's three major monotheistic religions - were sealed in front of 700 guests on the White House’s South Lawn on Tuesday, an occasion turned opportunity for Mr Trump to burnish his credentials as a Middle East peacemaker ahead of November's election. It has even led to his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, sparking derision among Mr Trump's opponents.

The deal has also conveniently bolstered Mr Netanyahu's reputation at home. Israel is now part of a stronger US-led alliance against Iran, strengthening security ties with wealthy new allies, now far less isolated than ever before.

Critics claim the accords do little to address the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an eminent Emirati political scientist, says even within the UAE community, there are members who are less than pleased by the news.

“I think there will be a good size of the population who wouldn't want to associate with Israelis,” he says, especially the older generation who have lived through generations of anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish sentiment.

“It’s very difficult to get rid of it overnight, so there will be a good segment who will not be as ready to go through with a massive presence of Israelis among us, so this is to be expected and only time will take care of it.”

Rabbi Duchman, who was congratulated personally by Mr Netanyahu via Zoom after the August 13 announcement, remains optimistic; he believes what is happening in the UAE "will change the relationship of Jews and Muslims all around the world".

"From Golders Green to Brooklyn,” he adds.

"This is a chance to break down misconceptions on both sides, and reduce the prejudice that is bred through separation."