United Arab Emirates opens Embassy in Tel Aviv after normalisation agreement

The United Arab Emirates opened its embassy in Israel on July 14. Israel's president Isaac Herzog attended the inaugural ceremony of the diplomatic office of UAE in Tel Aviv. The UAE Embassy is situated in the same tower as Israel’s stock exchange in the heart of Tel Aviv’s business district followed by the inauguration of Israel's embassy in the UAE last month and the signing of the US-brokered normalization agreement in the White House last year. 

UAE opens embassy in Tel Aviv

The UAE's ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja raised his country's flag outside the Stock Exchange building, with Herzog at his side. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Israeli President Issac Herzog said that "seeing the UAE flag in Tel Aviv was a far-fetched dream". Herzog thanked former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed for their efforts in bringing the two nations together. He said that the opening of the embassy was “an important milestone in our shared journey toward a future of peace, prosperity and security for the Middle East", according to AP. 

The UAE’s ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja, told reporters that the embassy will be "a base for our task to continue to build on our new partnership, to seek dialog, not dispute, to build a new paradigm of peace and to provide a model for a new collaborative approach to conflict resolution in the Middle East. Mohamed Al Khaja hopes that the opening of embassy in Tel Aviv is an important milestone between two countries, the UAE Embassy stated on Twitter. Khaja said that the diplomatic office will create new approach for region's future. 

Last month, Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrived in the UAE and inaugurated the country's first embassy in the Gulf. Taking to Twitter, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid shared a picture of the Embassy in UAE and asserted that Israel is not going anywhere, calling for an end to the century-long brawl between Tel Aviv and the Gulf countries. Israel has appointed Zvi Heifetz as its special envoy to the Gulf countries. 

Brokered by the USA, Israel and the UAE formally signed an agreement to normalise relations in September, 2020. The agreement meant that Israel would have to halt its plans to annex parts of the West Bank while the Gulf country would formally recognise Israel. A joint statement issued by the UAE, Israel, and the United States said that the three countries had "agreed to the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates". 

IMAGE: AmbAlKhaja/Twitter

Inputs from AP