Naftali Bennett is making a whirlwind visit Thursday, June 9, to the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf monarchy with which the Jewish state normalized relations in 2020 and where the Prime Minister had made the first official trip by an Israeli head of government in December.
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Naftali Bennett is due to meet with the new Emirati president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, who already ruled the country de facto before officially taking over from his ailing half-brother, Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who died in mid-May, the report said. Naftali Bennett's office in a statement.
The two men, who had met in December in Abu Dhabi and in Egypt in March, must discuss "
several regional issues
" during this "
lightning visit
", according to this source.
"
Today, together, we will take the privileged relationship that has been woven between our countries to a higher level, for the growth and security of our two peoples
," said Naftali Bennett before leaving Israel, according to his desk.
A similar fear of the Iranian nuclear
Israel and the Emirates signed a free trade agreement at the end of May, the first of its kind between the Jewish state and an Arab country.
In September 2020, the Emirates and Bahrain became the first Gulf Arab countries to publicly normalize relations with Israel, prompted by former US President Donald Trump.
Morocco and Sudan subsequently entered into similar agreements with the Jewish state.
Israel, the Emirates and Bahrain share a similar fear over the nuclear activities of Iran, the Jewish state's sworn enemy, and its interventions in various regional theaters.
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On Thursday, Naftali Bennett "
welcomed
" the resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) formally calling Tehran to order, against a backdrop of deadlock in negotiations to save the 2015 agreement governing the nuclear program Iranian.
This decision "
clearly indicates that Iran continues to play games and continues to hide
", affirmed Mr. Bennett according to his office, denouncing "
the hypocrisy of Iran on the nuclear question and in general
".
Tehran on Thursday denounced
the IAEA resolution as "
political and unconstructive ".
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