“With you, we want relationships in all sectors”
A first delegation from the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates visited the Israeli Parliament and the Yad Yashem Holocaust Memorial on Monday, as part of the strengthening of the recent partnership between this Gulf monarchy and the Jewish state.
After their normalization agreement in the summer of 2020, the opening of embassies and the visits of the Israeli head of diplomacy, Prime Minister and then President to Abu Dhabi, a delegation from the Federal National Council of the Emirates – a consultative assembly without real power – went to the Knesset on Monday to meet the Israeli parliamentarians.
“When we talk about the Abraham Accords, we need to think about the bigger picture. It is not just about political agreements, related to security and defence, but an agent of change for the whole region ( …) With you, we want relations in all sectors,” Ali Rashid al-Nuaimi, chairman of the Emirates National Council’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said on the spot.
“After the last war in Gaza, people were wondering what would happen to the Abraham Accords. And I said there was no going back. We are moving forward (… ) we are making history,” he added.
“Although this is not our first meeting, it is the first time that a delegation of members of the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates has come to visit the Knesset in Jerusalem”, welcomed Ram Ben Barak, president of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Israeli Parliament.
Before the Knesset, the Emirati delegation visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, calling for an end to “hate crimes”.
In addition, Israel signed a defense agreement with Bahrain last Thursday , the first concluded with a Gulf country since the normalization of relations between the Jewish state and the small kingdom and the United Arab Emirates in 2020.