A senior Emirati official has said that his country will open an embassy inIsrael within three to five months, according to an Israeli daily onFriday.
Israel Hayom quoted an unnamed UAE Foreign Ministry official as saying: “Ithink the Israelis will be able to obtain travel visa to the UAE from anembassy that will open in Israel after three to five months from now.”
Earlier this week, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that officialsfrom both sides discussed opening embassies in Israel and the UAE duringtalks that took place in Abu Dhabi with the participation of US officials.
The same Israeli newspaper also quoted the Emirati official as saying: “AbuDhabi is considering opening a consulate in Haifa or Nazareth that worksalongside the embassy in Israel.”
He added: “We aspire to a peace agreement with Israel, but peace is inreality with all Israelis, and it is very important for us to be availableto the Arab population of Israel, whom we consider an important partner forwarm peace.”
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On Monday, the first Israeli commercial flight landed in Abu Dhabi as apractical step in implementing the normalization deal with Israel, alsopassing over Saudi airspace.
On Aug. 13, the UAE and Israel announced a US-brokered agreement tonormalize their relations, including opening embassies in each other’sterritory.
Palestinian groups, including the Palestinian Authority, have denounced theUAE-Israel deal, saying it does not serve the Palestinian cause and ignoresthe rights of Palestinians
