UAE delegation arrives in Israel for first official visit
Palestinian officials denounce visit as ‘shameful’
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Your support makes all the difference.A delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has arrived in Israel on Tuesday for the country’s first official visit since the countries established diplomatic relations in August.
An Etihad Airways flight took the delegates and some US dignitaries from Abu Dhabi to Ben Gurion Airport, where Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed them.
The countries have agreed to allow their citizens to travel visa-free to each other’s territories, according to the AFP news agency.
The five-hour visit will be restricted to the airport near Tel Aviv as a result of health precautions amid the pandemic, according to Israeli officials.
The visit comes after UAE became the first state in the Middle East to establish ties in a quarter of a century, a step championed by the US.
Ari Berkowitz, the US Middle East envoy accompanying the UAE officials, posted a video on Twitter on Tuesday in which one of the Etihad pilots could be heard saying: "This is an historical moment for the UAE country and Israel and we are looking forward to salaam (peace) ... in the region.”
Echoing this sentiment, Mr Netanyahu said in a ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport that the countries were “making history in a way that will stand for generations”.
Obaid Humaid al-Tayer, the UAE’s financial affairs minister, who is heading the delegation with the economy minister Abdullah bin Touq al-Mari, said the Emirates wanted "to achieve prosperity for both our economies and our people."
However, Palestinians denounced the visit, with Wasel Abu Youssef, who sits on the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), calling the visit “shameful” and saying it “offers the occupation a strength to escalate its aggression and its crimes against the Palestinian people”.
He also cited the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are deemed illegal under international law.
Since Israel and UAE announced the start of their formal relations in August, the countries have signed several commercial deals.
As result of such agreements, the first commercial flight from the UAE to Israel landed near Tel Aviv on Monday morning.
Bahrain has also started to establish full relations with Israel, with Israeli officials flying there on Sunday to sign bilateral agreements.
Agencies have contributed reporting
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