The governments of Israel and the United Arab Emirates reached an agreement to normalize relations between the two countries. As a result of the accord, bilateral treaties are expected to be forthcoming which would allow tourism, investment, and direct passenger flights between the two countries, as well as the opening of embassies and trading of ambassadors for the first time.
“We are now working on allowing direct flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai and Abu Dhabi, over Saudi Arabia,” Netanyahu said, noting that he believed an agreement would be reached. “It is a very short flight, around three hours, like a flight to Rome, but it will change Israeli air travel and the Israeli economy with a great wave of tourism in both directions, with investments of great magnitude…The Emirates are very interested in massive investments in technology in Israel,” Netanyahu continued and said that cheap products manufactured in Emirati free trade zones will become available for Israeli consumers.
A leading businessman from the United Arab Emirates said Sunday he was already in talks with Israeli airline Israir on establishing direct flights between Israel and the UAE, hailing the recently announced normalization deal between the two countries as a “great” opportunity for both nations. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 13, Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, a billionaire real estate tycoon and philanthropist, confirmed his company was in talks with Israir.
