The UAE Embassy opened in Tel Aviv

 

The UAE Embassy opened in Tel Aviv

The UAE opened its embassy to Israel on Wednesday at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), marking a new phase in growing relations between the two countries.

"This embassy is not just a center for diplomats, but a center for our new cooperation," said Mohammed Mahmoud al-Khawaja, the UAE ambassador to Israel, at the opening ceremony. "This is a new model for peace and a model for a new common approach to conflict resolution."

The UAE and Israel announced peace or normalization of relations in the Ibrahim Agreement last August, and soon after, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco reached a peace agreement with Israel. Israel opened the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai last month during Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's visit to the UAE.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building was packed with excited guests to open the embassy, ​​including President Isaac Herzog and former Secretary of State Gabi Ashkenazi. Jair Lapid was in quarantine today because one of his assistants had a coronary test.

Mohammed al-Khawaja, the UAE ambassador to Israel, met President Herzog in his car on Tel Aviv's central street, outside the stock exchange building, where passersby across the street were watching.

The ambassador accompanied the president to the flags erected at the inauguration site, where the ambassador raised the UAE flag while playing his country's anthem.