Tel Aviv, March 1, (dpa/GNA) – The United Arab Emirates has an ambassador in Israel for the first time ever, after Israel’s president accepted the diplomat’s credentials on Monday in Jerusalem.
Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, accepted the credentials of diplomat Mohammed al Khajah, a “milestone” in relations between the two countries, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi wrote on Twitter.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had announced the establishment of diplomatic ties in August following mediation by the US, and sealed their relations a month later in a move many called historic.
The UAE’s embassy is to be in Tel Aviv.
Arab states have long refused to establish ties with Israel, saying any normalization must be contingent on a resolution of the Palestinian conflict.
Israel and the UAE expect their alliance to deliver economic benefits, but primarily, their ties are based on shared enmity towards Iran.
Nonetheless, the step was warmly welcomed in a joint editorial on Monday by al Khajah and the head of the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Eitan Na’eh.
“Six months ago, an Emirati and Israeli diplomat were unlikely to be seen together, much less co-author a newspaper article,” they wrote. “Opening up direct relations and embassies seemed even more farfetched. But here we are now.
“We are helping to write a new chapter in diplomacy and chart a new course of peace, prosperity and progress for the Middle East,” they wrote.
GNA