Another historic step has been taken with the official declaration by the UAE cancelling the economic and trade boycott on Israel, which was legislated in the Gulf country 48 years ago.
The UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed an order cancelling the boycott and allowing the signing of trade agreements between the two countries. UAE local media reported that the order allows all UAE companies and citizens to establish trade relations with Israel and Israeli companies, to import and to export, and prepare cooperation agreements in all areas.
Tomorrow, a delegation of senior officials from a range of Israeli ministries will fly out to Abu Dhabi to start preparing those cooperation agreements. Some Israeli officials already arrived in Abu Dhabi before the weekend to begin readying the groundwork for the visit.
The UAE media featured news of the cancellation of the boycott with pictures of Sheikh Khalifa signing the order against the backdrop of the Israeli and UAE flags. The articles about the cancellation all stressed that on Monday the Israeli and US peace delegations would arrive in the UAE on the first direct commercial flight between the two countries operated by El Al. There were prominent positive articles about the latest events in the media of neighboring Arab states including Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "I welcome the decision by the UAE President Shekih Khalifa bin Zayed to cancel the law on boycotting products from Israel and economic relations with Israel. This is an important step in promoting prosperity and peace in the region."
Minister for Regional Cooperation Ofir Akunis said, "This historic and important decision is unparalleled. The immediate significant is trade worth $500 million in the initial stages of relations. The bilateral export and trade potential is massive and an excellent base for trilateral and regional projects that have not moved forward in recent years.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi said, "This is an important step towards real peace which will yield economic and trade achievements for both people and strengthen stability in the Middle East. I call on other countries to take this courageous step, which the UAE is leading."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 30, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020