Israel’s pavilion still not visible at the event six weeks before the start of Expo 2020 Dubai official website.
On the face of it, it’s not particularly striking. Organizers said 191 countries were participating, and as of Thursday only 95 were included in the list of pavilions.
But Israel, which signed a much-publicized normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates in September 2020, is making significant efforts to publicize its pavilion at the World’s Fair, and as a key component of its reach in the Arab world. Sees participation.
“The presence of the Israeli Pavilion at Expo Dubai is a huge opportunity for all of us. For the first time, we will be able to connect with millions of visitors from the Middle East and beyond,” said Elazar Cohen, Commissioner General of the Israel Pavilion in 2019.
When Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visited the United Arab Emirates in June, he stopped at the expo site to meet the minister in charge of the event and be photographed in front of Israel’s pavilion.
Despite all the hype, Israel is still not listed on the website among the participating countries.
Expo staff indicated that it has not yet received all the necessary information about the Israeli pavilion.
Concept art on display at the Israel Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai. (screenshot)
“Expo 2020 Dubai will welcome 191 countries, and will publish information on each country’s pavilion upon request of the country and the provision of relevant material about their pavilion,” the event’s media office told the Times of Israel.
The Foreign Ministry said it was working with expo organizers to publicize information about the pavilion of the Jewish state.
“Israel is grateful for the invitation to attend Expo Dubai, [which came] 18 months before the Abrahamic Agreement, the ministry told the Times of Israel in a statement.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) and Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alon Ushpiz (C), listen to Elazar Cohen, Commissioner of the Israel Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020, as they explain the pavilion on June 30, 2021. (Shlomi Amslem / GPO )
“In the context of our advance public relations efforts, the pavilion is visible across all media outlets in the UAE and the Gulf. We are in touch with the organizers to collect the material from the Israel Pavilion and place it in the Virtual Expo.
UAE-based outlets, including National And Gulf News, covering Israel’s pavilion plans.
Israel announced It will attend the expo in April 2019, before Jerusalem had an official relationship with Abu Dhabi. In September of the same year, the Ministry of External Affairs posted a video to tell the audience what the pavilion would look like.
The first part of the Abrahamic Agreement, the historic cooperation agreement between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors, brokered in large part by the United States, turned a year old on Friday.
The UAE on August 13, 2020 signed a treaty to normalize its relations with Israel for the first time, starting cooperation on tourism, trade, technology sharing and more. Bahrain will soon follow suit, followed by Sudan and Morocco.
LR: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan attend the signing of the Abrahamic Agreement at the White House on September 15, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
Israel’s Spirit and Culture
The Dubai Expo 2020 trade fair will gather around 200 countries to attract the attention of an estimated 25 million visitors over six months.
The world fair, a milestone for Dubai, which has dived $8.2 billion at the eye-popping venue in hopes of boosting its soft power and resetting the economy, will now open its doors in October 2021. The original opening is scheduled for October 2020. Was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The expo is “a unique meeting between cultures and languages and people who do not meet regularly,” David Canafo said, the Tel Aviv-based architect behind the design of Israel’s Pavilion.
Designed to reflect Israel’s sense of belonging to the region, as well as the openness to broadcast the Jewish state to its Arab neighbors, Nafo said, “the pavilion is … an open space – hosting expo visitors.” to a meeting room”.
The concept video of the pavilion shows stairs that represent a sand dune.
David Nafo, the Israeli architect who designed Israel’s pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai, talks during an interview with AFP in his Tel Aviv office on November 28, 2019. (Photo by Jack Guez/AFP)
Described as a “pavilion without walls and without borders”, the stairs are flanked by large LED screens showing images of different aspects of Israeli society.
The purpose, Nafo said, symbolizes Israel’s transformation of its deserts through culture and technology, pointing to the possibility that other desert lands could do the same.
Rotem said an auditorium beneath the pavilion will provide visitors with an interactive multimedia experience.
He said it aims to showcase the “Israeli spirit and culture” in innovations and developments from sectors such as water, medicine and information technology.
AFP contributed to this report.
