By Amit Acco, Partner |
The United Arab Emirates and Israel signed an agreement to allow their citizens to travel from one country to the other without visas. The visa waiver agreement will be the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab country with Israelis requiring visas to enter Jordan and Egypt.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a signing ceremony at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Tuesday:
“The enthusiasm for this peace agreement among our people is enormous…It’s real, it’s broad, it’s deep, and it reflects the potential that is realized todayWe are exempting our nationals from visas and this will offer a huge boost to business, tourism and people to people contacts…the mutual trade and exchange of goods, services, technology and knowledge will benefit immeasurably not only our two countries but the Middle East as a whole”
The immediate effect of the agreement is that Israelis will not need visas to visit the UAE, and Emiratis can visit Israel freely as well.
