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UAE approves new embassy in Tel Aviv

Following confirmation of the peace deal, the United Arab Emirates will become the fourth Arab country with an embassy in Israel.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

The government of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday approved a decision to establish an embassy in Tel Aviv.

The move comes after the two countries signed the historic Abraham Accords at the White House in September followed by ratifying full diplomatic ties in October.

“The Council of Ministers approves … the establishment of the UAE embassy in Tel Aviv in the State of Israel,” the UAE tweeted on its official government account.

During an official visit to Israel in November, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani announced the opening of embassies in each other’s countries.

The two Gulf Arab nations will join Egypt and Jordan, two of Israel’s immediate neighbors that established embassies in Tel Aviv following their own peace treaties with the Jewish State.

After the signing of the the Abraham Accords, Sudan announced the establishment of ties with Israel, and last month Morocco decided to established formal relations. Informal ties that existed for decades between Morocco and Israel were broken off by Rabat in 2000. An estimated quarter of Israel’s 9.3 million population are Moroccan Jews or their descendants, and many senior Israeli government members hail from the northwestern African nation.

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Since inking the Abraham Accords, Israel and the UAE have been involved in a whirlwind of economic and diplomatic moves to cement the relations and fire up trade. Those deals include a $3 billion regional development fund, an agreement worth up to $150 for Israeli trade fairs being held in Dubai, and Israeli acquiescence to an American deal to sell $35 billion in advanced weaponry to the Gulf nation.

On Sunday, in another move to cement ties, Israel’s postal service began service to the UAE, making it possible to send and receive letters and parcels. Other Arab states in the region still do not accept mail to or from Israel.

“The relationship that is being forged between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and the connection between the postal administrations, will make it possible to strengthen trade ties between the two countries,” said Danny Goldstein, CEO of Israel Post.