Israel’s First Ambassador to the UAE Ready for His Historic Mission

For Ambassador Eitan Na’eh, the excitement of being Israel’s first high-ranking diplomat in the UAE began even before he landed in the Gulf state this week.

Speaking from self-quarantine in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Na’eh spoke of “mixed national and personal emotion,” which began “from the first time the foreign minister summoned me and asked me to come here.”

That continued on Sunday, when Na’eh “took a flight east over Saudi Arabia and landed in Dubai,” something that, as an Israeli, he still didn’t take for granted.

Na’eh said he is in Abu Dhabi “with clear instructions to expand ties,” because previously Israel only had diplomatic representatives at the UAE-based International Renewable Energy Agency, and not in the country itself.

“We need to build long-term relationships,” he said.

The ambassador is already answering calls from Emirati officials while in quarantine, which will likely continue for 10 days, and his arrival has attracted the interest of local media.

The first item on Na’eh’s agenda may be to prepare for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit, scheduled for February 9-10; The trip has not yet been finalized and the dates could change due to limits on flights as part of Israel’s policies to combat COVID-19.

More generally, Na’eh will work to map out areas of cooperation between Israel and the UAE and will seek to deepen connections between the countries, making contacts and holding conversations and meetings with civil society officials and groups.

“There is great enthusiasm in Israel for these connections and they look very promising. Us and [the Emiratis] We have to determine which are the areas in which we want to advance, ”he said. “The business community in Israel is very thirsty for this connection and people here have a desire to come to us.”

Na’eh pointed out that Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the main trading centers between East and West, and Israel can use that to its advantage. He also recounted that the Israelis on their flight to the UAE were hoping to learn more about the Emirates’ building practices, especially its methods of air conditioning and cooling skyscrapers.

Some of the areas in which Emiratis are interested in learning about Israel’s agricultural technologies and food security, as well as civil space exploration, innovation and new technologies, Na’eh said.

“It is a very long list. The United Arab Emirates is a very advanced and developed country and cooperation is not only in one point, we can cooperate in all areas ”, he added. “There is great reciprocity in relationships.”

As for tourism, Na’eh said that the warm season in the UAE begins in what is spring in Israel, so Israelis would likely visit it mainly in winter. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to enter the UAE each year, and 130,000 have already visited it in recent months.

Na’eh did not have an estimate of how many Emiratis would visit Israel annually, because few travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think we will see traffic both ways. Emiratis are very curious about Israel’s culinary offerings, they asked about Israeli chefs, and about visiting not only Jerusalem, but places in Tel Aviv and the north, ”he said.

Meanwhile, Na’eh is working from quarantine. He will participate in a Tu B’Shvat Seder, a ceremony for the Jewish holiday that celebrates trees, through a video conference with the UAE Jewish community and the Kiryat Gat and Chicago communities.

“We have to start running and then accelerate,” Na’eh said. “We need to learn a lot and promote cooperation in all areas. Those are the keys. “

On Sunday, the UAE cabinet authorized the opening of an embassy in Israel.

The UAE Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the process “has been affected by the current movement restrictions in place in Israel to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“With the efforts of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to lead the world’s fastest vaccination campaigns, we are hopeful that the situation will improve and that the embassy opening process can be completed soon,” the Foreign Ministry said. of the United Arab Emirates.