Israel-UAE celebrate Abraham Accords’ 2nd anniversary with host of bilateral deals, high-level visits, 450,000 tourists to UAE

Israel-UAE celebrate Abraham Accords’ 2nd anniversary with host of bilateral deals, high-level visits, 450,000 tourists to UAE

ABU DHABI - Israel and the UAE are celebrating the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords signed in September 2020, which established diplomatic relations between both countries, on the backdrop of a host of bilateral deals, high-level visits and increasing trade and tourism, according to a top Israeli diplomat.

"I arrived here ten and half months ago [as the first Israeli Ambassador to the UAE] and [since then] we had two visits of our President, two visits of our Prime Minister, around 20 visits of our ministers to the UAE. We signed 20 agreements, including the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)," Amir Hayek, who took charge as the envoy in October 2021, told the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

450,000 Israeli tourists in UAE in two years

"We are seeing great results. We can be proud of the results in trade, tourism, and investments; and we are just at the beginning," he affirmed in an exclusive interview at the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Revealing that an estimated 450,000 Israeli tourists visited the UAE during the past two years, Hayek asserted that tourism is one of the most important tools in bilateral relations as it strengthens the people-to-people ties.

"We are talking about GtoG [government-to-government] and