President Isaac Herzog's meeting with members of the Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday was "very moving," said Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, the senior rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates and the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities.
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Abadie told i24News in an interview that the two spoke of the mutual interests of both countries and of how to advance the Abraham Accords.
The rabbi also discussed Jewish tourism to the UAE in the wake of the Covid pandemic, as travel opens up and restrictions are lifted.
"With COVID or without COVID, this past year, the UAE has seen over 200,000 Israelis and Jewish tourists... enjoying the places, eating kosher foods, praying at the places of prayer, and all their needs as Jews were being met here in the UAE."
Abadie said that many tourists came not only to see the UAE but also to establish businesses in the Gulf state.
When asked about the attacks on the UAE by the Houthis in Yemen and the need for a strong security relationship between the UAE and Israel, Abadie replied: "We do feel very safe here as the Jewish community in the UAE... I have spoken with many of the Emiratis, the people in the government; they're not concerned."
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"This country is one of the safest – if not the safest one for the Jewish community to live," Abadie said, referring to the global spike in antisemitism.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
