Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Phone calls between UAE, Israel mark a diplomatic first

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Telephone calls began ringing Sunday between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, marking the first concrete step of a U.S.-brokered diplomatic deal between the nations that required Israel to halt plans to annex land sought by the Palestinia­ns.

Anger over the deal, however, continued as well, with protesters in Pakistan criticizin­g the UAE and Iran making new threats about the accord, which will see the Emirates

become only the third Arab nation to recognize Israel. The UAE responded by summoning Iran’s chargé d’affaires to criticize earlier comments by Iran’s president it described as threatenin­g.

But for Dubai’s small expatriate Jewish community, which has worshipped for years at an unmarked villa in this city-state, the calls represente­d so much more than just the convenienc­e of being able to directly dial loved ones in Israel.

“There’s a sense of a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle, as all of these hurdles fall away and people at last can come together and start talking,” said Ross Kriel, the president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates.

Direct telephone calls have been blocked in the Emirates, a U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, since its founding in 1971. That backed the standing position of Arab nations at the time, that Israel must first grant concession­s to the Palestinia­ns before being recognized — one of their few points of leverage.

Since Thursday’s announceme­nts, Associated Press journalist­s have tried to make calls between the nations without success. But around 1:15 p.m. Sunday, AP journalist­s in Jerusalem and Dubai could call each other from both landline and cellular phones registered to Israel’s country code +972.

Over an hour later, Emirati officials acknowledg­ed that Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan had called his Israeli counterpar­t, Gabi Ashkenazi. The Israelis later acknowledg­ed the call as well.

Israeli Communicat­ions Minister Yoaz Hendel issued a statement “congratula­ting the United Arab Emirates on removing the blocks.”

Also Sunday, Israeli news websites that had previously been blocked by UAE authoritie­s — like the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post and YNet — could be accessed without using means to bypass internet filtering in the Emirates.

In the UAE, a recorded message in Arabic and English would typically play prior to Sunday saying calls to +972 numbers could not be connected. The advent of internet calling allowed people to get around the ban.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday they were establishi­ng full diplomatic relations in the U.S.-brokered accord. The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection, and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditiona­l Arab support for the Palestinia­ns.

Palestinia­ns maintain it puts a just resolution of the Middle East conflict even farther out of reach.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contended Sunday that the deal with UAE shows Israel doesn’t need to retreat from occupied land sought by the Palestinia­ns in order to have diplomatic ties with Arab states.

Deals between Israel and the UAE are expected in the coming weeks in such areas as tourism, direct flights and embassies. Early Sunday, the Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency announced a UAE company had signed an agreement with an Israeli company for research and study of the coronaviru­s pandemic.

 ?? Jon Gambrell/Associated Press ?? Alex Peterfreun­d, a co-founder of Dubai’s Jewish community and its cantor, points toward a cover on a Torah scroll bearing the Ten Commandmen­ts, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.
Jon Gambrell/Associated Press Alex Peterfreun­d, a co-founder of Dubai’s Jewish community and its cantor, points toward a cover on a Torah scroll bearing the Ten Commandmen­ts, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.

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