A delegation from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Israel on Tuesday (October 20) to sign a series of agreements, the first official visit since normalization between the two countries.
Accompanied by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the delegation was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
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With economies severely affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the two countries hope to quickly reap the dividends of their new relations, which have broken an "
Arab consensus
" conditioning any normalization with Israel on a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. .
The Emirati delegation is led by Minister of State for Financial Affairs Obaid Al-Tayer and Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al-Mari, said Hend Al-Otaiba, director of strategic communications at the UAE foreign ministry. .
"A glorious day for peace"
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have decided to exempt their nationals from visas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday, making Emiratis the first citizens of an Arab country to be exempt from it.
"
We are exempting our nationals from visas,
" Netanyahu said on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
"
Today we are making history that will last for generations
", he declared before adding: "
We will remember this day as a glorious day for peace
".
After this speech, Israeli and Emirati representatives signed four agreements: besides the one concerning visa exemption, the other texts concern the protection of investments, aviation and scientific cooperation.
The Emirates and Israel signed on September 15 in Washington, under the leadership of US President Donald Trump, the normalization agreement, which was ratified on Monday.
Bahrain signed a similar agreement the same day.
These two Gulf States are the first Arab countries to normalize relations with the Hebrew state since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
