In an interview with an Israeli journalist, a senior state official says that he expects the signing ceremony of the peace agreement to take place as early as September.
"Muhammad bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of the UAE, wants to visit Jerusalem because he wants comprehensive peace with Israel and its residents," a senior UAE official said in an interview with the all-Arab news network.
Photo: Reuters
Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed, known by his acronym MBZ is the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the de facto ruler of the kingdom.
He has not yet publicly announced that he will come to Jerusalem.
In an interview with Israeli-American journalist Joel Rosenberg today (Tuesday), with Dr. Ali Rashid al-Nuaimi, chairman of the United States Emirates' Defense, Home Affairs and Foreign Relations Committee, al-Noaimi said the Crown Prince sees such a visit as a natural continuation of normalization Real and complete between the two countries.
The full interview in All Arab
The Crown Prince's visit to the capital of Israel and the third holiest city for Islam, if it happens, will be the most important visit of an Arab leader to Israel since Egyptian President Anwar Sadat arrived on November 19, 1977.
In answer to the question of whether he knows when and how the Crown Prince made the decision to make peace with Israel, said to Noaimi: "Our crown prince is a man of vision. He has the courage to make difficult decisions. He believed that we, as the UAE, must act against extremism in the region and the world. To achieve this, we had to promote peace and seek a partner who believed in peace. "And you know, if you want peace in the region - you have to make peace with Israel. That's the first step. That's the strong message. He waited for the right time, and when he saw the opportunity he did not miss it - and he made the decision."
"Signing the agreement - another month"
In response to interviewer Rosenberg's question: "Can you tell us when the signing ceremony with the Crown Prince and the Israeli leadership at the White House?"
Replies to Noimi: "I believe it will be another September, and I expect the emirate leadership, including perhaps the Crown Prince himself, to eventually reach Jerusalem. We are talking about total peace. We are talking about breaking through all the walls and borders and building bridges. In terms of our relationship - "The sky is the limit. One thing I want to mention, in fact, is that we have to work hard to deal with the hate narrative in the region and the world. This is a shared responsibility. This is the real challenge I have seen since the United Arab Emirates peace declaration."