A diplomat infamous for his disparaging remarks about Arabs and for being disrespectful towards Arab personnel during his service in the UAE between 2017 and 2019, is among the 40 high-ranking diplomats picked by Biden that the Senate approved in a long-delayed session.
Steven Bondy was approved for the position of US ambassador to Bahrain on December 18, but soon after an array of serious accusations and counter-accusations of racism emerged, none of which were made publicly.
Citing anonymous sources and two of Bondy’s former colleagues from the previous administration, Politico reported on Monday that Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan has personally commented on Bondy’s unprofessional attitude in a conversation with a White House official during the Trump administration.
Prince Mohammad has allegedly said that he wasn’t a fan of Bondy, whom they didn’t consider a good person since he tended to ‘treat his people like garbage’.
The retired US Army Brig. Gen. Miguel Correa, who worked as the Abu Dhabi Embassy’s defense attaché in 2019 and who was reportedly ousted by Bondy who purportedly slandered him, is also behind the allegations that he has been listening to the US ambassador to Bahrain’s disparaging remarks about Arabs all the time.
Some may refuse Correa’s comments as biased since Bondy has allegedly accused him previously of being racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic, but similar remarks were also made by Victoria Coates, the former special energy representative to Saudi Arabia, who has personally witnessed Bondy being dismissive of Middle Eastern staff while she was working out of the Abu Dhabi Embassy in the summer of 2020.
Bondy himself has denied all the allegations made public shortly before the final confirmation vote on his candidacy – none of which had been reported to the Senate – stressing that he harbors none of the prejudices against the peoples and cultures of the Middle East attributed to him and that he has dedicated his career to representing the US and its interests in the Middle East.
State Department has also dismissed the rumors, calling them nothing more than the product of political, personal, and workplace animus.
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