Israel and UAE to sign more deals, Lapid says

Israel and UAE to sign more deals, Lapid says

DUBAI: Israel's top diplomat Yair Lapid said on Wednesday that more cooperation deals with the UAE were on the horizon, during a landmark visit to the Gulf nation. The UAE and Israel normalized ties in September, paving the way for a raft of deals ranging from tourism and aviation to financial services. "We're going sign more agreements in July ... in Israel. So it's going to expand," he told journalists. "The vision is (that) it moves from governments to business to people." Lapid was speaking as he opened an Israeli consulate in the commercial hub of Dubai, a day after opening the country's first Gulf embassy in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. "What we are opening here today isn't only a consulate. It's a center of cooperation. A place that symbolizes our ability to think together, to develop together, to change the world together," he said. On Wednesday, he also visited the gigantic Expo 2020 Dubai, at which Israel will participate along with more than 190 countries. The six-month global expo, which Dubai hopes will attract visitors and boost the economy, is set to launch in October after a one-year delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The Israeli pavilion will