Web Report
The Head of Israel’s National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, read his first statement to the media in Arabic after he landed in Abu Dhabi, as the first-ever commercial flight from Tel Aviv to the UAE’s capital marked history today, according to media reports.
Bin-Shabbat, who stood next to US President’s senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and US’ National Security Adviser, Robert O’Brien, at the media briefing, started his statement, reported WAM, with the Islamic greeting “As-salamu alaykum.”
“I’m proud and really pleased to head the Israeli delegation. We are here to turn a vision into a reality,” he told the reporters in Arabic. “There are no limits for improvement in many fields [between the UAE and Israel] like innovation, tourism, aviation, agriculture, energy and many others.”
Ben-Shabbat, who was appointed Israel Prime Minister’s national security adviser in 2017, read his second statement in Hebrew.
The top-level US-Israel delegation was received at the airport by Dr Anwar Gargash, UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Lior Haiat, Spokesperson for Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told WAM, “”The important decision to abolish the boycott on Israel and Israeli companies is an important step towards normalisation. The UAE President [Sheikh] Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, took a historic decision that shows real leadership.”
Haiat said this delegation “will create the basis of the future of the normalisation accords.”
“We hope that it would be a quick process [the normalisation] and within a few weeks or months we would be able to see the fruits of this process,” he added.
The top Israeli official, who worked as his country’s consul-general in Miami, US, between 2016-2019, said that the delegation will discuss with the Emirati officials diplomatic relations, tourism, science and space, trade and investments, as well as cultural and health research.
“The idea is to build the infrastructure of the relationship between the countries and between the peoples,” he continued.
“The UAE and Israel are two of the most innovative countries in the region. There is a lot of potential for cooperation in science and research, and also in trade and tourism.”
A US-Israeli delegation, led by Jared Kushner, Senior Adviser to US President Donald Trump, arrived at the presidential airport in Abu Dhabi on Monday, reported Emirates News Agency (WAM).
The delegation left on Monday morning on board the first Israeli commercial plane to UAE, on which the word “peace” was printed in Arabic, English and Hebrew above a cockpit window. The plane landed in the UAE capital Monday afternoon.
The meeting will touch on ways to promote joint action and opportunities for prospects of cooperation.
A return flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, an El Al spokesman told reporters last week. Industry sources expect a potential deal between the two countries to provide a new revenue stream for UAE airlines as they slowly recover from the impact of the pandemic.
