The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday become the first Gulf state to open an embassy in Israel, as its envoy hailed the trade and investment opportunities that closer ties would bring at a flag-raising ceremony also attended by Israel’s president.
Brought together by shared unease about Iran, the UAE and Bahrain normalised relations with Israel last year under the “Abraham Accords” crafted by the administration of then-US President Donald Trump. Sudan and Morocco have since also moved to establish ties with Israel.
The opening of the UAE embassy, which is situated in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, followed the inau-guration of Israel’s embassy in the UAE last month. –Reuters
