Israel’s chief of diplomacy, Yair Lapid, will travel to the United Arab Emirates at the end of June for the first official visit by a Israeli minister to the Gulf monarchy, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
Lapid “will carry out a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates next week (June 29-30) as the guest of the Emirati Foreign Minister,” the Israeli ministry said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry described this trip as “historic”, the first of its kind for these two countries that normalized their relations in September.
“Relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates are important, the citizens of both countries, but also the Middle East as a whole, will appreciate its fruits,” he added.
In October 2018, the then Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports, Miri Regev, accompanied the Emirates to the national judo team for a competition, but it was not an official visit.
The Israeli Communications Officer also participated in an international telecommunications conference in Dubai in October 2018.
In March, the first official visit to the Emirates by an Israeli prime minister, then Benjamin Netanyahu, was canceled due to a “dispute” with Jordan.
Since the normalization of relations in September 2020, at the impulse of the US administration of former President Donald Trump, both countries have launched direct air connections, appointed ambassadors and increased visits by commercial delegations.
On Monday, the i24News network announced a series of agreements with the Emirates, including the opening of a permanent office in Dubai, the first for an Israel-based outlet.
The Palestinians called the normalization agreements a “betrayal”, as the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was so far seen as a precondition.
dac / cgo / hj / tjc / rev
