“Our two peoples have started competing to make up for lost time,” said the young diplomat who is establishing an embassy in the UAE in Israel, in line with the normalization agreement signed between the two countries.
Muhammad Mahmoud al-Kajah will spend several days in the country, where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials and choose a location for the embassy and residence.
The new ambassador arrived on a private plane and immediately underwent a coronavirus test, as instructed by the Israeli Ministry of Health. He will stay in his hotel until the test indicates a negative result, and only then will his discussions begin, including his meeting with Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Israel and the UAE, as well as Bahrain, which joined them, normalized their diplomatic relations last September – by signing the so-called Abraham Accords – at the White House in Washington, with the mediation of then-US President Donald Trump.
Al-Kajasa had previously met the interim Israeli ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Eitan Nye, in his temporary office in Abu Dhabi, which he uses until the final location is found.
The new ambassador also opened a Twitter account for his post, posting these messages in English and Hebrew, and he already has nearly 30,000 followers. Although the issue of mutual establishment of embassies has already made significant progress between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, no bilateral agreement for visa exemption has been reached due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
(MTI)
