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The embassy is housed in Tel Aviv’s new stock exchange building
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Bilateral trade between the two has reached over $675.22 million
The United Arab Emirates opened an embassy in Israel Wednesday, housed in Tel Aviv’s new stock exchange building, in the latest normalization move under a deal brokered by Washington last year.
The venue in the heart of Israel’s financial district highlighted the central role of economic cooperation in their ties since the UAE became only the third Arab country to recognize the Jewish state.
At the ceremony, attended by new Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Emirati ambassador Mohamed al-Khaja called the embassy opening “an important milestone in the growing relationship between our two countries”.
“The UAE and Israel are both innovative nations, we can harness this creativity to work towards a more prosperous and sustainable future for our countries and our region,” he said.
Herzog called for the “historic agreement” with the UAE to be “extended to other nations seeking peace with Israel.”
Israel and the UAE have signed a raft of deals ranging from tourism to aviation to financial services since normalizing ties in a deal brokered by former US president Donald Trump’s administration and announced last August.
Wednesday’s ceremony, held in the lobby of the stock exchange building two floors below the embassy, came after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid made a landmark visit to the UAE last month, opening an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai.
Following the UAE deal, Israel led by then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu normalized relations with Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, in a string deals known as the Abraham Accords.
Israel and UAE have sought to capitalise on their new ties with a string of economic agreements.
Lapid told Emirati media last month that bilateral trade has reached over $675.22 million since the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020.
The financial benefits of the agreements could also extend to impoverished Gaza, still reeling from the latest round of violence.
“Once we have a secure political stability (in Gaza) then of course the investment will come,” said Abdullah Baqer, President of the Israel-UAE Business Council, in the briefing shared with Guzansky.
“We will raise funds, we will build schools, we will do charity works to raise the standards of living over there.”
(With AFP inputs)