In a joint statement evoking the Abraham Accords, the United Arab Emirates, United States, and Israel on Tuesday announced the launch of a special working team that aims to promote interfaith dialogue.
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The countries behind the initiative, which is known as the Trilateral Religious Coexistence Working Group, are represented by UAE Health Minister Abdul Rahman al-Owais, Israel's Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern, and US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya.
"The Abraham Accords have become the most important force for positive change in the Middle East. To realize their full potential, we must reverse long-held mistrust, misconceptions, and misgivings about one another," Al Owais said, according to a State Department press release.
We are thrilled for next week's Abraham Accords Festival & Games at @expo2020dubai, which will include both a soccer match & dinner by well-renowned chefs from Bahrain, Israel, Morocco, & the UAE. Cultural diplomacy & people-to-people ties creates strong partnerships. https://t.co/pGnjI6NG3f
— U.S. State Dept - Near Eastern Affairs (@StateDept_NEA) March 25, 2022
The officials explained that the new group hopes to expand on the sentiment of the historic US-brokered normalization deal by supporting initiatives that promote religious tolerance and counter hatred.
"We must find new ways to encourage people-to-people engagement that bridges religions, cultures, and nationalities," al-Owais added.
Israel's representative, Stern, called to "widen the circle of peace, regionally and globally, through these meetings of the Abrahamic faiths to send a clear message of reconciliation, acceptance, and inclusion."
"The Abraham Accords represent one of the most significant strategic shifts over my three decades of diplomacy in this region and bring clear-cut benefits not just to the countries and peoples concerned, but to the rest of the world as well," US representative Zeya said.
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News of the team's inauguration arrived one day after Israel hosted foreign ministers from four different Arab countries in a diplomatic conference known as the Negev Summit.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
