United Arab Emirates inaugurates first embassy in Israel

Published on : 07/14/2021 – 12:08

The normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is continuing apace. Following the recent inauguration of an Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi, the Emirates opened its first embassy in the Hebrew state on Wednesday (July 14) in Tel Aviv.

With the opening of this diplomatic mission, located in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building, the Emirates become the third Arab country to have an embassy on Israeli soil after Egypt and Jordan.

“The UAE and Israel are two countries of innovation, we can use this creativity to work together for a more prosperous and stable future for our two countries and the region,” said at the opening. Emirati Ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Mahmoud Fateh Ali Al-Khaja.

“This historic agreement must be extended to other countries seeking peace with Israel,” added Israeli President Isaac Herzog, present at the ceremony held in the lobby of the Stock Exchange, two floors below the offices of the embassy, ​​according to an AFP team on site.

Bahrain and Morocco in the process of normalization with Israel

The Emirates and Israel had announced the normalization of their relations in the summer of 2020, at the instigation of the former US administration of Donald Trump.

Bahrain, another Gulf monarchy, as well as Morocco and Sudan, have also announced normalization agreements with Israel in recent months.

At the end of June, the new head of Israeli diplomacy Yair Lapid visited the Emirates to inaugurate the first Israeli embassy in a Gulf country. A step that had been hailed by the United States, a great ally of Israel, but castigated by the Palestinians.

From secular Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas to Islamists Hamas, the Palestinians denounced these normalization agreements qualifying them as “betrayal” on the part of Arab countries, because considering that this process must take place after and not before the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict .

With AFP