DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel's top diplomat
Yair Lapid said Wednesday that more cooperation deals with the UAE were on the
horizon, during a landmark visit to the
Gulf nation.
اضافة اعلان
The
United Arab Emirates and Israel normalized ties in
September, paving the way for a raft of deals ranging from tourism and aviation
to financial services.
"We're going sign more agreements in July ... in
Israel. So it's going to expand," he told journalists.
"The vision is (that) it moves from governments to
business to people."
Lapid was speaking as he opened an Israeli consulate in the
commercial hub of Dubai, a day after opening the country's first Gulf embassy
in UAE capital Abu Dhabi.
"What we are opening here today isn't only a consulate.
It's a center of cooperation. A place that symbolizes our ability to think
together, to develop together, to change the world together," he said.
On Wednesday, he also visited the gigantic Expo 2020 Dubai,
at which Israel will participate along with more than 190 countries.
The six-month global expo, which Dubai hopes will attract
visitors and boost the economy, is set to launch in October after a one-year
delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The Israeli pavilion will serve as a platform to
establish bilateral cooperation in business, industry, investments, culture and
academia," said Israel's point man for the expo, Elazar Cohen, in a
statement.
'Economic and commercial cooperation'
Lapid also met with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah
bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, on Tuesday, signing an agreement "for economic and
commercial cooperation," according to a UAE foreign ministry statement.
From oil to tourism to cutting-edge technologies, the two
countries hope to benefit from an economic dividend following the normalization
agreement.
Bilateral trade has reached over $675.22 million since the
signing of the so-called
Abraham Accords in September last year, Israel's top
diplomat told the UAE's WAM news agency.
"Since September 2020, a number of transactions, valued
at tens of millions of dollars, have been signed between Israeli and Emirati
companies in the fields of artificial intelligence, cyber, renewable energy,
water security, health and more," Lapid said.
Israeli ministers have previously visited the UAE, but newly
appointed Lapid became the most senior Israeli to make the trip, and the first
on an official mission.
Lapid's visit comes amid escalating tensions between Israel
and the Palestinians, peaking last month in an 11-day conflict.
That came just months after Israel struck accords with the
UAE and then also with Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, sparking outrage among
Palestinians.
The deals break with decades of Arab League policy making an
Israeli-Palestinian peace deal a prerequisite for Arab relations with Israel.
Lapid voiced hopes that such deals would reach "the
entire region."
'Still worried' on Iran
Following the US-brokered deal between the UAE and Israel,
officials in Washington had talked of bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham
Accords.
But Lapid talked down any imminent breakthrough in that
direction.
"It's not easy as it sounds, it going to take time ...
a lot of difficulties (are) in the way, but Israel's goal is peace in the
region and peace with its neighbors," he said.
The new foreign minister's trip also comes as Israeli
arch-ally the US and arch-enemy Iran hold indirect talks aiming to revive a
2015 nuclear deal — efforts the previous Israeli government of Benjamin
Netanyahu had strongly opposed.
Lapid said Israel was "still worried" about the
talks, but used language markedly different from that of Netanyahu.
"There are three options. The best one is a good
agreement ... that we prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons," he said.
"Second-best is the sanction, the maximum pressure, and
the third is a bad agreement."
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