Following Prime Minister Naftali Bennett concluded his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday following a meeting with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, after which the two sides published a joint statement celebrating the new relationship, which was cemented in 2020 by the Abraham Accords' normalization deal.
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"The Israeli Prime Minister's successful visit to the United Arab Emirates is another milestone in the development of warm relations and a tremendous partnership forged between the two countries," the statement read. "The leaders discussed a variety of economic and civic issues in which there has been significant progress in the past year, including private and public sector cooperation in R&D, technology, food security, climate, water, energy, environment, health, and tourism."
According to a separate statement by the Prime Minister's Office, the crown prince accepted Bennett's invitation to visit Israel, and Bennett "has instructed his staff to start making arrangements vis-a-vis the Emirati counterparts" to see this take place.
The joint statement did not mention Iran or security issues, despite this topic most likely coming up during the talks, against the backdrop of the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna.
Ahead of the meeting, it was reported that Bennett was expected to present information about the deployment of pro-Iranian militias and drone units recently discovered by the Israeli intelligence apparatus. High-ranking Israeli officials say that the information was to be presented in an attempt to keep the UAE from moving closer to Iran, although the joint statement does not mention whether these issues came up.
"During the visit, both sides confirmed a shared desire to advance a range of significant areas of cooperation to further strengthen trade and economic relations, by establishing a joint research and development fund," the joint statement read. "This joint fund, and a corresponding joint business council, will harness leading economic and technological minds in the UAE and in Israel, and task them with commercializing solutions to challenges ranging from climate change and desertification to clean energy and future agriculture."
The leaders also discussed joint efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
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