Head of the oldest Jewish community in the UAE: "Things that are happening now were a dream" • Hostility on the part of the locals? "Safer here than in Europe"
Unlike the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, something different is happening around the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. In the previous two cases, peace agreements were signed between leaders, and then the Arab side made it difficult for direct ties to be formed between the peoples. An agreement has not yet been signed with the United Arab Emirates, but normalization is already developing spontaneously.
Photo: GPO
In a survey conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website among the residents of the Gulf, 44% of the citizens and residents of the Emirates who participated in it answered that they want to visit Israel because of the holy places.
Advocate Ross Kriel, 55, head of the United Arab Emirates' oldest Jewish community, marvels at the speed with which the warm relationship is developing. "Just a week ago, things happening today were still a dream, such as seeing Israeli flags and the UAE flying side by side The first of the newspapers here, "Kriel exclaims and prophesies:" it's going to be a warm peace. "
The total number of Jews living and working in the Emirates is around 3,000, including dozens of Israelis with dual citizenship. Most of them live in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
Kriel's community was founded 12 years ago. It was followed by two young congregations, including that of Chabad. The congregation's synagogue is located in a villa, the home of the Kriel family, not far from the famous Burj al-Arab Hotel.
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One of the three Torah scrolls carries a dedication in Arabic to a very senior businessman in Dubai, who helped establish the community (pictured).
"There is no guard at the entrance to the house. We have community members from Antwerp, Paris and Geneva who feel safer here than in Europe," Kriel surprises. "The only anti-Semitism I experienced here was on the part of Europeans. There is a social contract here between all parts of the true society of mutual respect."
Ross' son, Isaac, will be the first in the Dubai Jewish community to celebrate a bar mitzvah this coming November. The nephew of the head of the community, Godrom, 26, who moved to Dubai from Israel a year ago and is trying his hand at entrepreneurship, provides an interesting diagnosis of the mental differences: "Locals here will have to understand that there are all kinds of Israelis - aggressive and gentle. Nations live here, so they will be ready for Israelis