The head of Israel’s foreign intelligence service has visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for security talks, only days after the countries agreed to establish diplomatic ties in a move that angered Palestinians.
Mossad boss Yossi Cohen discussed “security cooperation” with UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the official Emirati WAM news agency reported on Tuesday.
Cohen’s trip to Abu Dhabi marked the first visit to the UAE by an Israeli official following the announcement last week by US President Donald Trump that the two countries had agreed to normalize relations.
“The two sides discussed perspectives for security cooperation, as well as exchanged views on regional developments and on issues of common interest,” including efforts to address COVID-19, WAM said.
As part of the deal, Israel agreed to suspend the annexation of territories in the occupied West Bank, although Prime Minister Netanyahu said had only agreed to a “delay” and that this controversial plan was not off the table in the long run.
The UAE decision “came” independently of Israel’s annexation plans, according to Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. This “decision is at the expense of legitimate Palestinian national rights,” he told Palestinian news agency Wafa on Friday.
|
Israel and UAE to establish full diplomatic ties |
Palestinians protested against the deal, seeing it as a betrayal of their case by a major player in the Arab world, who has widely maintained that normal ties with Israel are only possible once the dispute with the Palestinians has been resolved.
Israel-UAE tensions were high in 2010 after Mossad was blamed for the murder in a hotel room in Dubai by an operative for the Palestinian group Hamas, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
‘Make history’
Trump said leaders of Israel and the UAE will sign the historic agreement at the White House in the coming weeks.
Netanyahu called on Cohen last year to thank Mossad for its support “in developing ties with the Gulf states over the years, which have helped bring the peace treaty to fruition” , said the office of the Prime Minister.
The Israel-UAE deal is only the third such agreement Israel has made with an Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, and increases the chance of similar deals with other pro-Western Gulf states.
Netanyahu appeared on Sky News Arabia on Monday, in his first interview with the Abu Dhabi-based network.
“This is a great moment … we are making history,” he said, adding, “This is a combination of limitless possibilities.”
Saudi Arabia has maintained a striking silence over the deal, but local officials have indicated that Riyadh is unlikely to follow the UAE, its main regional ally, despite US pressure.
Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner insisted on Monday that it would be in Riyadh’s interest to formally establish ties with Israel.
“It would be very good for Saudi affairs, it would be very good for Saudi defense, and, honestly, I think it would help the Palestinian people as well,” Kushner said.
Netanyahu said Monday that Israel was working to open a corridor across Saudi Arabia for flights to the UAE.
Meanwhile, Oman’s foreign minister spoke to his Israeli counterpart on Monday, the first public contact since the announcement of the UAE – Israel deal.
Yusuf bin Alawi and Israel’s Gabi Ashkenazi spoke by telephone about “recent developments in the region”, Oman’s foreign minister said on Twitter.
Oman, along with Bahrain, had expressed all its support for the deal, and bin Alawi told Ashkenazi that Muscat “clearly affirms its position and calls for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in the Middle East.
Other Gulf states, including Kuwait and Qatar, have so far been silent on the Israel-UAE agreement.
.
