Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told the Israeli "Reshet Bet" radio that the volume of trade between Israel and the UAE will reach 4 billion dollars within 3 to 5 years, after the announcement of the normalization of relations between the two countries last August.
Since then, the UAE has canceled the economic boycott of Israel, and officials from both countries have said that they are studying cooperation in the fields of defense, energy, medicine, tourism, technology and financial investment, and a number of Israeli and Emirati companies have signed agreements since the announcement of normalization.
A spokesman for Cohen - a former economy minister - said the figure he cited for annual trade, included trade in defense equipment.
The Israeli airline "Israaire" said today, Monday, that it has booked places for commercial flights from Tel Aviv to the UAE in preparation for possible tourist trips. The heads of the two largest banks in Israel will travel to the UAE this month, in the first such visit since the two countries agreed to normalize relations.