UAE think tank explores impact of Israeli elections

Abu Dhabi – The UAE Centre for Strategic Studies (ECSSR) in Abu Dhabi hosted a forum This week on the results of the recent Israeli elections and their implications for the region.

The seminar was held in the presence of Mohamed Al Khaja, the first UAE Ambassador to Israel, and Amir Hayek, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Among the speakers were well-known Israeli journalists, as well as experts on Israeli politics in Israel and the United States.

Never before has an Arab country hosted so many seminars where Arab and Israeli speakers discussed Israel’s internal affairs.it underscores the importance of this develop relationships between the uae and israel Abraham Accords.

Sultan Mohammed Al-Nuaimi, Director General of ECSSR, told the seminar that Israel and the UAE are leveraging the capabilities of both countries in economic, technological and other fields. He pointed out that the emerging bilateral relationship should serve the interests of both countries and the development of the entire region. He also pointed out that academia and research cannot be separated from other areas of collaboration.

Israel’s leadership will not miss any chance hold up The Abraham Accords established relations with the rest of the world, and the other side was eager to learn as much as possible about Israel and its social and political complexities. As a workshop participant, especially as a native Arabic speaker, I can feel this in many of the issues I have encountered. This has made a lot of people feel more comfortable talking to me about Israel.

Further evidence of the growing interest in Israel can be seen in the extensive coverage of elections in the Arab world. Al Jazeera was updated throughout the day on November 1, just like the Israeli media. The Israeli election was covered so frequently by other Arab media that one might think it was a local election.

However, when Israeli tourists visit the UAE in large numbers, especially Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and post their trips on social networks, there are almost no tourism in the other direction.

Israeli diplomats said it was a cultural issue and tourism in the UAE and Bahrain would definitely increase, just at a slower pace.

Another reason could be the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is probably the most interesting place for Muslim tourists in Israel. However, Palestinians are not always happy to see tourists from the UAE at the world’s third largest mosque, as Palestinians are angry and betrayed by the Abraham deal.