Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett flew to the United Arab Emirates Sunday to meet with Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan (MBZ), in a surprise first-ever visit to the UAE by an Israeli prime minister.
“I’m happy to be taking off for a historic visit, the first of its kind, to the United Arab Emirates,” Bennett said on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport. “The trip is meant to deepen the cooperation between the countries in all areas.”
The two countries formalized relations in August 2020 when the Abraham Accords were established. The deal between Israel, the UAE, and other Arab countries was designed to promote peace with the Middle East and the U.S. while conducting negotiations.
Bennett said that dealings between Israel-UAE are “excellent and extensive,” and called to “nurture and strengthen them, and build the warm peace between the two nations.”
A statement from Bennett’s office revealed that the Prime Minister and MBZ plan to discuss “economic and regional issues that will contribute to the prosperity, welfare and strengthening the stability between the two countries.”
Bennett’s visit to the UAE follows a trip by Israel’s new Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in June on the occasion of the inauguration of the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi.
CBN News previously reported that Lapid’s meeting with the UAE’s foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, was the highest-level official visit to the United Arab Emirates since the two countries signed a peace agreement.
Lapid said the signed agreements would not be the end of the peace process but the beginning.
Former President Trump mediated the deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which was the first peace agreement between Israel and Arab nations in more than 25 years.
Trump and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered it one of their greatest achievements. Netanyahu had hoped to make a quick trip to the UAE while still in office but wasn’t able to do it.
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