The flags of Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

-

KARIM SAHIB, Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP

Israel announced on Sunday the opening of an embassy in the United Arab Emirates, just over four months after signing an agreement to normalize its relations with this Arab Gulf monarchy.

"The Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi was officially opened today with the arrival of the mission's representative, Eitan Na'eh," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the Israeli delegation will work to further “deepen” the ties between the two countries.

The Israeli embassy, ​​which is currently housed in “temporary offices”, will promote “the full spectrum” of relations between the two countries, the Israeli authorities said.

"The opening of this mission will allow (...) the full and rapid development of all the potential of our relations", welcomed in a statement the head of Israeli diplomacy Gabi Ashkenazi.

Numerous trade agreements signed

Israel has announced in recent months agreements to normalize its relations with four Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, but also Sudan and Morocco, under the sponsorship of the United States of President Donald Trump.

Moreover, the Israeli government officially approved the agreement with Morocco on Sunday, which must however still obtain the green light from deputies.

In the wake of this wave of standardization, many trade agreements have been signed between the United Arab Emirates and Israel in the agro-food, tourism and high technology sectors.

An Israeli subsidiary of the French giant EDF has also signed in recent days a first cooperation agreement with a UAE company in the field of renewable energy aimed at making the Jewish state a world leader in solar energy.

Palestinians opposed to this decision

On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates approved the installation of their first embassy in Tel Aviv, an Israeli metropolis where the majority of diplomatic representations are based because it does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Israel annexed the eastern part of the holy city in 1967 and regards the whole of Jerusalem as its “indivisible” capital, while the Palestinians aspire to make East Jerusalem the capital of a possible independent state.

The Palestinians also qualify the ongoing normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries as "betrayal", believing that this process could only be envisaged after - and not before - a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Before the Emirates, Egypt and Jordan had already established diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, when they signed, in 1979 and 1994 respectively, peace treaties that ended the state of war with neighboring Israel. .

World

Coronavirus in Israel: Hebrew state closes its skies to curb the spread of Covid-19

World

Vaccination in Israel: The country targets two million vaccinated at the end of January

  • Diplomacy

  • Emirates

  • Israel

  • World