Israel's cabinet approved a normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates on Monday and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and Abu Dhabi's crown prince had agreed in a phone call to meet soon.
The U.S.-brokered "treaty of peace" with the Gulf Arab country broke new diplomatic ground in the region, where concern over Iran is high, even as Palestinians condemned the pact as betrayal of their quest for statehood in Israeli-occupied land.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan
(Photo: AFP)
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan tweeted on Monday that he and Netanyahu had discussed strengthening bilateral ties and the prospects for peace in the region.
In an official statement that coincided with an Israeli cabinet vote approving the Sept. 15 agreement with the UAE, Netanyahu said he and the crown prince would meet "soon", and had extended invitations to visit each other's countries.
According to source, the UAE delegation is expected to arrive in Israel on October 20 to discuss and finalize the detailes of the 18 separate normalization agreement.
The Emirate delegation will attend meetings at the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry's offices to finalize the deal, which the ministry coordinates together with the other government ministries.
Sources added at least "five or six" agreements are in advanced stages, including in the fields of investment, aviation, scientific-technological cooperation, visas and the establishment of embassies, which may be ready to be signed before the Emirate delegation arrives in the country.
UAE's ministers of finance and economy are set to be part of the Emirate delegation. Bin Zayed al-Nahyan is not believed to be part of the delegation and is expected to meet Netanyahu on a separate occasion, sometime before the U.S. elections in November.