UAE citizens will soon be able to travel to Israel without a visa for a maximum of 90 days per visit, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. A mutual visa waiver memorandum of understanding was signed between both countries and will come into effect after its ratification.

Omar Saif Ghobash, Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy, signed on behalf of the UAE, while Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director-General of the Population and Immigration Authority of the Ministry of Interior, signed on behalf of Israel on October 22.

Ghobash underscored that the visa waiver will strengthen cooperation between the two countries and have a positive impact on tourism, trade, investment, and other sectors.

A visiting UAE delegation to Israel signed a number of agreements on October 20 to support cooperation in investment, tourism, financial services, and technology between the UAE and Israel.

The UAE delegation is led by Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, along with Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, and Omar Ghobash as well as numerous government officials from the Ministries of Finance, Economy, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Industry and Advanced Technology. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is also a participant.

Both sides discussed ways to elevate relations in a number of key fields. Agreements were signed for promotion and protection of investment; air services; mutual exemption of entry visa requirements; memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the fields of science and technology; MoU on mutual economic cooperation; and declaration of intent on establishing cooperation in the field of financial services.

The GCAA signed an air transport services agreement with the Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority to strengthen bilateral air transport relations. It was signed at a meeting held at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv by Minister Touq Al Marri, who is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GCAA, and Israeli Minister of Transport Israel Katz.

“Under the agreement, Emirati airlines will be able to operate 28 passenger flights to Tel Aviv and unlimited flights to Eilat every week, in addition to cargo flights. As for unscheduled flights, we have agreed to not place any restrictions,” Al Marri said.

Flights between the UAE and Israel are expected to start in a matter of weeks and the new agreement will promote tourism and trade between the two countries.

Since the announcement to establish relations between the UAE and Israel on August 13, the two countries have moved rapidly to expand cooperation across vital sectors, including health, technology, energy, tourism, and education.

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Speaking at an event hosted by the US Atlantic Council think tank, Gargash said that “several Arab countries” are on the path of normalizing ties with Israel. The region needs a strategic breakthrough, he said.

“We are committed… as part of the international consensus on the two-state solution, and any embassy will be in Tel Aviv. So that is quite clear,” the minister said during the virtual session with the Atlantic Council Front Page. “The whole idea of suspending annexation, giving space and opportunity for negotiating the two-state solution, you know… it is evident where our embassy will be.”

The US is one of the few countries that has recognised Jerusalem as the Israel’s capital and moved its embassy there in 2017. President Trump at a campaign rally on August 17 said he did it for the evangelicals in the US.

Regarding the UAE’s role in finalising a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, Dr. Gargash said: “We don’t negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians.” He added the final shape of the emergence of the peace deal will be decided by Palestinians and Israelis. “But we all need to urge the Palestinians to engage and negotiate.”

“The UAE saw an opportunity because we’ve always been urged by the Palestinians to help in stopping annexation. By linking (the agreement) to the suspension of annexation, we came out with a good deal.

“This is going to be a warm peace because, unlike Jordan or Egypt, we have not fought a war with Israel,” Gargash said. Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994.

Calling the UAE a dynamic Arab country that wants to “break a lot of barriers”, Dr. Gargash said that would not be possible with an “exclusivist view of the world through an Arab prism”.

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