The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi accepted the invitation to visit Israel
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to increase trade to 500 500 million, while Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has accepted an invitation to visit Israel.
According to US media reports, bilateral trade between Israel and the UAE has reached about ً 500 million in 2021 alone. The breakthrough came on Monday, December 13, when Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived in the United Arab Emirates on a one-day visit.
It is worth mentioning here that this is the first official visit of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to the Gulf Arab Federation. He arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Monday, December 13, the first official visit of an Israeli prime minister to the UAE. The visit comes amid talks between world powers and regional rival Iran over its nuclear program.
During the talks in Vienna, Iran took a hard line against the negotiators and called for easing of sanctions, accelerating its nuclear program, which Israel has viewed with concern.
On his arrival in Abu Dhabi, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The meeting between the two leaders lasted for 4 hours. It should be noted that the duration of the meeting between the two leaders was fixed at about 2 hours. After which the meeting continued for another 2 hours.
During the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan expressed hope for stability in the Middle East and spoke of advancing cooperative relations towards more positive steps in the interests of both nations and the people of the region. According to foreign media, the meeting between the two leaders has been described by Israeli officials as historic.
Talking to media on his return from Abu Dhabi, the Israeli Prime Minister described the visit as successful and historic. Naphtali Bennett said he was returning to Israel with a positive message.
According to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, the meeting ended after more than two hours of one-on-one talks between the leaders. The talks focused on areas such as trade and the environment, but did not directly mention either Iran or the Palestinians. According to Al Jazeera, Crown Prince Abu Dhabi was also invited by Israel to visit Israel, which he accepted, but no date has been announced.
It should be noted that Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed the Abraham Agreement last year to normalize relations. Naphtali Benitez took over as prime minister six months ago as head of a coalition of eight parties united against Benjamin Netanyahu.