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Abu Dhabi (AFP) – Business and economy are the focus of the historic meeting on December 13 between Naftali Bennett and the leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, on the occasion of the first official visit of an Israeli head of government to a Gulf country.
“Naftali Bennett is currently meeting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, at his palace,” Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, tweeted, posting photos of the two men together.
Bennett arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, just over a year after the normalization of relations between the two countries.
The Israeli head of government was received by the Emirates Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed, and declared himself “very excited to be here on the occasion of the first official visit by an Israeli leader.”
On September 15, 2020, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became the first Gulf countries to publicly normalize their relations with Israel, under the impulse of the then president of the United States, Donald Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kuchner, architect of this strategy.
This strategy was embodied in the so-called Abraham Accords, which gave rise to similar pacts with Morocco and Sudan.
Since its signing, the Emirates and Israel have signed several agreements in sectors ranging from tourism to aviation, including financial services.
In addition to the meeting with the crown prince, Bennett will meet with officials in the fields of technology, culture and investments, according to a source from the Israeli delegation.
High technology and innovation
“The Emiratis are interested in Bennett’s experience in the field of high technology and business, and in innovation in general in Israel,” said this source, who also cited the development “mainly of trade between the two countries.” .
In an interview with the official Emirati press agency WAM, the Israeli leader said he hopes that “our relations will continue to be good, especially in the economic sphere,” and referred to “a new reality” in the region.
On the Emirati side, no statement has been released, and the press rarely covers this visit, with a local and Arab population still very hostile to Israel and in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The Palestinians denounced the Abrahamic Accords as a betrayal, as the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had long been a condition for any normalization of relations between the Arab countries and Israel.
In June, the head of Israeli diplomacy, Yair Lapid, inaugurated Israel’s first embassy in the Gulf, in Abu Dhabi, as well as a consulate in Dubai, during an unprecedented official visit, while Emirati officials did the same in Tel Aviv.
Bennet’s visit to the Emirates also occurs when negotiations to save the Iranian nuclear agreement between Tehran and the main powers (the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom) have resumed in Vienna.
Emirates, which shares with Israel the aversion towards Iran, nevertheless remains an important economic partner of the Islamic Republic.
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