ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday officially inaugurated the Israeli consulate in Dubai, describing it as a center for dialogue and cooperation.
“What we are opening today is not only a consulate, but also a center of our cooperation,” he said. “This place embodies our ability to think together, grow together, change the world together.”
Lapid stressed that peace between the UAE and Israel is “not between governments and leaders, but between peoples and nations.”
“It is not my peace, or that of my friends standing here, but of our children,” he said.
lapidy Israel Embassy opened in Abu Dhabi The day before, recounting the “historic moment” as a time when “we chose peace over war.”
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While in Abu Dhabi, Lapid went out of his way to thank former prime minister and political rival Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he called “the architect of the Abrahamic Agreement and worked tirelessly to bring it to fruition.” He also thanked former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.
The UAE was represented at the Dubai ceremony by Omar Sultan Al Olma, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence.
Emirati Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Sultan Al Olma (L) and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) at the opening of Israel’s new Consulate in Dubai on June 30, 2021 (Shlomi Amslem / GPO)
Olma said relations between the countries would “promote a more stable and secure region.”
Highlighting joint efforts on COVID-19 and technological innovation, he said, “The UAE and Israel are creating a new paradigm of cooperation across the region.”
Olma said the relationship between the partners is “expected to grow.”
“Our two countries will start the next phase which will be a model for countries everywhere,” he said.
The ceremony was attended by Emirati Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaza, Israel’s envoy to the United Arab Emirates Etan Na’h and local Chabad Rabbi Levi Dutchman.
Consulate inaugurated after Lapid’s visit Israel’s Pavilion At the Dubai Expo 2020 Trade Fair.
A milestone for Dubai, the world fair, which has shelled out $8.2 billion at the eye-popping venue in hopes of boosting its soft power and resetting the economy, will open its doors in October. The original opening scheduled for October 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic.
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 29, 2021. (Shlomi Amslem / GPO )
Designed to reflect Israel’s sense of belonging to the region as well as the openness the Jewish state seeks to broadcast to its Arab neighbors, “the pavilion is … an open space – to host expo visitors” A meeting,” according to the architect behind it. Israel’s presence at the expo was planned before the normalization deal took shape.
Lapid is in the Gulf state for the first official visit of an Israeli minister to the United Arab Emirates, although the country has informally hosted Israeli ministers in the past, including then Transport Minister Israel Katz and Sports Minister Miri Regev.
Lapid’s visit was obviously very important to the Emiratis. The country’s major print newspapers, in both English and Arabic, carried the foreign minister’s picture on top of the fold, indicating the government’s priorities.
The morning newspapers in the United Arab Emirates lead with a visit to Yair Lapid, June 30, 2021 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed, intervened to ensure that the Israeli delegation ordered kosher food at the hotel instead of pre-packaged kosher food.
And at each engagement, the hosts asserted their belief that ties would expand dramatically and that a change of government in Israel and the recent conflict in Gaza would have no effect on that trend.
The visit comes nearly a year after Israel and the UAE announced a normalization of ties, and months after planned visits by Israeli officials were halted by a range of issues ranging from a health crisis to a diplomatic scuffle.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid at the opening of Israel’s new Consulate in Dubai, June 30, 2021. (Shlomi Amslem/GPO)
LAPID is being hosted by Emirati Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu tweeted “best wishes to Israel’s new embassy in Abu Dhabi” without mentioning Lapid or the new government, which replaced him as prime minister.
PM Netanyahu addresses cabinet before vote on peace treaty with UAE, October 12, 2020 (GPO)
The opening of the embassy in Abu Dhabi was graced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Lapid in Rome on Sunday. Blinken said in a statement that the establishment of the diplomatic mission and Lapid’s visit to the UAE take the occasion “important for Israel, the UAE and the wider region.”
Israel and the emirate announced in August that they would normalize diplomatic ties, bringing more than a decade of secret ties to the open. Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco also later joined the US-brokered Abrahamic Agreement, and there were rumors of talks in other countries as well, though none came to fruition.
Netanyahu reportedly struck the deal, which included Israel’s agreement not to make US sales of F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates behind the backs of its foreign and defense ministers.
Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to fly to the United Arab Emirates to celebrate the deal, the first agreement by an Arab state to have open ties with Israel in decades, but faced with coronavirus travel restrictions, scheduling issues and A dispute was repeatedly delayed along with internal political battles. With Jordan in March who put his plane on the ground. According to reports, he sought to prevent former Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi from making an official visit to prevent him from stealing the spotlight ahead of the March elections.
Instead, Netanyahu’s rival Lapid traveled, less than a month after he managed to form a unity coalition led by Yamina Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, which pushed Netanyahu into the opposition.
Lapid’s visit comes despite the Ministry of Health’s recent inclusion of the UAE in a list of places Israel is strongly encouraged to avoid in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, and warned that travel there would be banned. can go. The country has recently seen an increase in the number of new cases to over 2,000 in a day.
A screen shot of a video from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showing a preview of the Israeli Pavilion at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai (Courtesy MFA)
The Jewish community in the Emirate expressed enthusiasm over Lapid’s visit.
Chief Rabbi Yehuda Sarna said: “We are honored to welcome Lapid, Foreign Minister.” “The Jewish community in the UAE is thrilled to represent this journey: a growing bond between the UAE and Israel.”
Rabbi Eli Abadi said, “We hope that the foreign minister’s visit will be a harbinger of religious, trade and cultural exchanges and opportunities between our two countries.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.