In new precedent to promote normalization… Emirati minister will participate in Jewish conference
The American Jewish Committee announced the participation of the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash in its virtual conference in a new UAE precedent escalation of normalization.
The American Jewish Committee said in a tweet that Gargash will discuss “the efforts of the UAE in promoting regional stability and interfaith cooperation in a historic public dialogue.”
The committee added that the “AJC 2020”, the first global forum for the Jewish call, will include many world leaders in discussions centred on the most important issues facing the Jewish people.
On its website, the American Jewish Committee says it is working to “advance the welfare of the Jewish people and Israel, and promote human rights and democratic values around the world.”
It is noteworthy that Gargash promoted in March of last year the necessity of opening up to Israel and the comprehensive normalization with it.
At the time, Gargash claimed in a statement to the newspaper “The National” issued in Abu Dhabi, that the relations between the Arab countries and Israel needed a shift that would pave the way towards peace with the Palestinians.
Gargash said that the decision of many Arab countries not to engage in dialogue with Israel complicated the efforts of a solution for decades, he claimed.
He continued: “Several years ago, an Arab decision was taken not to communicate with Israel, but looking back, this was a very wrong decision.”
He added, “It is necessary to distinguish between having a political issue and keeping the lines of communication open.”
Gargash said that he expects greater communication between Arab countries and Israel through small bilateral agreements and visits by politicians and sports delegations.
He added, “the strategic transformation actually requires us to make progress in the peace field,” according to his claim that he invokes peace in order to promote normalization.
He continued, “if we continue with the current approach, then I believe that the dialogue within 15 years will be about equal rights in one state,” referring to the possibility of merging the Israeli and Palestinian systems instead of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The Emirati official claimed that the dialogue is on the sidelines at the present time, but that will change.
Israeli and Emirati officials exchange official visits and have participated together in many sports competitions. As a result of the rapprochement between the UAE and Israel, nearly three thousand Jews from different countries residing in the Emirates have created an official account for the Jewish community on Twitter.
According to “Yeshiva World News”, 150 Jewish families consisting of two to three thousand people, residing in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, came from the United States, Europe and South Africa.
And the US-based Bloomberg Agency said that the Jewish community is taking its place in the Emirates thanks to the warm relations between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.
In October 2018, the UAE authorities allowed Israeli athletes to compete under their country’s flag in the “Grand Slam” judo tournament held in Abu Dhabi and organized by the International Judo Federation.
Also, Israeli Minister of Culture and Tourism Miri Regev accompanied her country to Abu Dhabi to follow up on his competitions in the championship.
Former Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Qara attended the telecommunications conference held in Dubai on October 30, 2018, where he made a speech, while former Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Israel Katz visited Abu Dhabi in July 2019 to attend the environmental conference organized by the United Nations.
In a report published on August 20, 2019, the Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” said that the UAE has concluded a huge deal worth three billion dollars with Israel, providing the latter with advanced intelligence capabilities that include two modern spy planes.
