Israel announced on Sunday January 24 the opening of an embassy in the United Arab Emirates, a little over four months after the signing of 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 representative of the mission, Eitan Na’eh”, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the Israeli delegation will work on “Deepen” still the links between the two countries.
First Israeli diplomat officially stationed in the Emirates, Eitan Na’eh had already been assigned a few years ago to the Israeli delegation in Turkey before being expelled during a crisis in May 2018 between the two countries over violence in Turkey. Gaza, Palestinian territory under Israeli blockade. The Israeli embassy, which is currently based in “Temporary offices”, will promote “The full spectrum” relations between the two countries, the Israeli authorities said.
“The opening of this mission will allow (…) the complete and rapid development of all the potential of our relations”, welcomed in a statement the head of Israeli diplomacy, Gabi Ashkenazi.
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.
Emirati Embassy in Tel Aviv
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 that do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel are based.
Israel annexed the eastern part of the holy city in 1967 and considers the whole of Jerusalem as its capital “Indivisible”, while the Palestinians aspire to make East Jerusalem the capital of a possible independent state. Palestinians also qualify as “Betrayal” the ongoing normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries, 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. .
