ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hailed the “historic moment” with the official opening of the Israeli Embassy in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday afternoon.
“We stand here today because we have chosen peace over war, cooperation over conflict, the well-being of our children over bad memories of the past,” Lapid said.
“Agreement is signed by leaders but peace is made by the people.”
Lapid went out of his way to thank former prime minister and political rival Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he called “the architect of the Abrahamic Agreements and worked tirelessly to bring them to fruition.”
He also thanked former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.
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“Israel wants peace with all its neighbours,” Lapid declared.
“We’re not going anywhere. The Middle East is our home. We’re here to stay,” he said. “We call on all countries in the region to recognize this and talk to us.”
“It is essential that we prepare ourselves and our children for a new world,” Nora Al Kaabi, UAE’s Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, said after Lapid.
He mentioned his country’s cooperation with Israel on AI, smart cities, COVID-19, trade and tourism.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) and Emirati Culture Minister Noura Al Kaabi inaugurated the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi on June 29, 2021. (Shlomi Amslem / GPO)
We underline our enthusiasm at what we hope will be the first of many high-level visits, he said.
Al Kaabi ended his speech with but use, Hebrew for “thank you very much.”
Lapid is in the Gulf state for the first official visit by an Israeli minister to the United Arab Emirates.
The visit comes nearly a year after the countries announced they would normalize relations, and months after during which planned visits by Israeli officials were halted by a range of issues ranging from a health crisis to a diplomatic scuffle. .
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.
During his two-day visit, Lapid will also attend the opening of the Consulate General of Israel Dubai.
Israel’s top diplomat is being hosted by Emirati Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Lapid spoke to bin Zayed earlier this month. Following the call, Lapid said he “looks forward to working with them to build the warm and unique relationship between our two countries for the benefit of our people and the entire Middle East.”
PM Netanyahu addresses cabinet before vote on peace treaty with UAE, October 12, 2020 (GPO)
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, although 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 UAE to celebrate the deal, the first by an Arab state to have open ties with Israel in decades, but with coronavirus travel restrictions, scheduling issues and internal political battles. As well as a dispute was repeatedly delayed. 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 is traveling, 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 health ministry’s recent addition of the UAE to 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.
Off for a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates. ???????? pic.twitter.com/fkw7Ed4dfP
– Yair Lapid???? (@yairlapid) June 29, 2021
While in Dubai, Lapid will travel Israel’s Pavilion At the Dubai Expo 2020 Trade Fair. The world fair, a milestone for Dubai, which has raised $8.2 billion 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.
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, and the country has informally hosted Israeli ministers in the past, including then Transport Minister Israel Katz and Sports Minister Miri Regev.
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.”
“We hope that the foreign minister’s visit will be a harbinger of religious, trade and cultural exchanges and opportunities between our two countries,” said Rabbi Eli Abadi.
After discussions with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lapid met Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani on Sunday, the first meeting between the new Israeli government and the Gulf country’s cabinet minister.
“Peace with Bahrain should be an example of the right process that needs to happen in our region,” Lapid tweeted after the meeting. “We also talked about the challenges facing the Middle East, first and foremost Iran.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.