Lapid to be first minister to visit UAE

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid plans to visit the United Arab Emirates next week, making him the first Israeli minister on an official visit to the country, which made peace with Israel last year.

On his first trip in his new role, he will be the guest of UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi next Tuesday and Wednesday. Lapid will dedicate the Israeli Embassy in the Emirati capital and the Israeli Consulate in Dubai.

“Israel-UAE ties are an important relationship whose fruit is enjoyed not only by the citizens of the two countries, but of the entire Middle East,” Lapid’s spokesman said on Monday.

Israel and the UAE announced a peace and normalization agreement last August, facilitated by the

US and called the Abraham Accords. Bahrain joined soon after, and then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of the two Gulf states signed the accords at the White House the following month. In the ensuing months, Sudan and Morocco also announced normalization with Israel.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted a message of support after Lapid’s announcement.

“This is an important historic event,” he wrote. “Israeli-Emirates relations are an important part of Israel’s foreign policy and we will work to deepen them.”

“Good luck Yair,” Bennett