Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) on December 12, marking the first time an Israeli prime minister has made an official visit there.
Bennett’s trip to Abu Dhabi is the most senior mutual visit since a U.S.-mediated formalization of Israeli-Emirati relations was achieved last year through the so-called Abraham Accords.
Bennett was received by an honor guard and welcomed by the U.A.E.’s foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He was expected to meet later with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed to discuss building economic and military ties.
“I am very excited to be here, on the first official visit by an Israeli leader,” Bennett said. “We look forward to strengthen the diplomatic relations between the countries.”
Bennet’s visit comes against a backdrop of intense diplomacy as world powers try to revive a six-year-old nuclear deal with Iran that was hobbled by a U.S. pullout and the reimposition of sanctions in 2018.
U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to bring the nuclear deal back to life.
Hard-line Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on December 11 that his side was “serious in the negotiations,” after U.S. officials publicly questioned Tehran’s commitment to renewing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from 2015.
Israel staunchly opposes the nuclear deal.
Israel and the U.A.E. have long cooperated secretly on security. But they only formalized relations in September 2020.
Before the Abraham Accords, which also included Bahrain, the only Arab states that had diplomatic relations with Israel were Egypt and Jordan.
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