JERUSALEM (MIDDLE EAST) – Israel’s cabinet has given approval for a normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince had agreed to meet soon.
The US-brokered “treaty of peace” established full relations with the Gulf Arab country.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE’s de facto leader, tweeted on Monday that he and Netanyahu had discussed strengthening bilateral ties and the prospects for peace in the area.
Netanyahu said, “At the weekend, I spoke with my friend, the crown prince … and invited him to visit Israel,” Netanyahu said. “He invited me to visit Abu Dhabi. But first, we will see a UAE delegation here and another one of our delegations will go there.”
According to a source, Israeli representatives accompanied by US officials will fly to Bahrain on October 18, before returning to Israel with a UAE team on October 20.
Commenting on his conversation with Sheikh Mohammed, Netanyahu said: “We spoke about cooperation that we are promoting in investment, tourism, energy, technology and other spheres”.
On the other hand, Israeli officials have expressed objection, with regard to the UAE making purchase of US-made F-35 stealth fighter jets in a separate side deal.
Israel is the only Middle East country flying the advanced warplane. It has expressed concerns that supplying the same to other nations in the region could affect its military edge.