Friday, March 29, 2024

Israel officially recieved the first ever UAE ambassador

On Monday, President of Israel officially received the first UAE ambassador after two countries reached an agreement to normalize relations.

UAE ambassador Mohamed Al Khaja, has arrived in Israel on Monday. He gave his credentials to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at a ceremony in Jerusalem.

The United Arab Emirates is the first country to agree to forge full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state under the Abraham Accords, a pact brokered by former US President Donald Trump.

The agreement makes the UAE only the third Arab country with a majority to form formal relations with Israel. Egypt agreed in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

Other countries like Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan later also joined the Abraham Accords.

The deal broke with the long-standing Arab consensus that there should be no normalization with Israel until a comprehensive peace agreement is reached with the Palestinians.

The last Monday, Khaja met Israels foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi in capital Jerusalem. Minister wished him “success” in his “historic mission”.

As historic background of his appointment, Khaja said he was “very proud and honored to be the emirate’s first ambassador to the state of Israel“.

My mission here is to stimulate and develop this relationship,” he added. “We hope this will bring peace and prosperity to the people of the Middle East.”

Israel opened its embassy in the United Arab Emirates in January, and veteran diplomat Eitan Naeh is leading its mission in Abu Dhabi.

Israel and the UAE have signed many projects on direct flights, visa-free travelling. Also the agreements to protect investment, science and technology.

On Tuesday, “Khaja was supposed to visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust education and memorial center.”

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