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At the first U. A. E. stopover in Israel since countries normalized relations, they agreed to facilitate and modernize checkpoints in the West Bank. The Palestinians called this taci consent to the Israeli occupation.
By David M. Halbfinger and Adam Rasgon
JERUSALEM – UAE diplomats took their first official vacation to Israel on Tuesday since the countries normalized relations in August, and the two sides signed pacts to strengthen ties, adding allowing their citizens to go from one country to another. visa-free, the first from Israel. resigns with an Arab state.
Confined to the runway at Ben-Gurion Airport as a similar precaution to the coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Obaid Hamaid Al Tayer, the Minister of State for Financial Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, along with U. S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who negotiated the new diplomatic dating, marked the milestone with an awning of transitority , with a Etihad Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the background.
“Today we are writing the story,” Netanyahu said, assuring his visitors that “the enthusiasm for this peace agreement between our peoples is enormous, it is real, it is broad, it is deep. “
“These links create an excellent foundation for economic growth, opportunity, innovation, and prosperity,” added Mr. Mnuchin.
But some aspects of the bilateral pacts announced on Tuesday annoyed the Palestinians more, who were furious at the Emirati’s resolve to discover their cooperation with Israel in official diplomatic relations. The Palestinians had long relied on Arab solidarity to deny Israel such normalization until they had received statehood.
Tuesday’s visa waiver agreement, in particular, frustrated the Palestinians that, under pressure that Israel would now allow Emirati to travel smoothly to Israel and Jerusalem, while forcing citizens of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to undergo an unsurpassed authorization process, adding great security. before accessing muslim holy sites such as the Athss Mosque.
“I want a permit issued through the Israeli army to move to Jerusalem,” Salem Barameh, who heads the Palestinian Institute of Public Diplomacy, wrote on Twitter. “The city I was born in. But now an Emirati can do without a visa because two belllicose regimes and human rights violators have reached a joint arms agreement. Does that sound fair to you?
Israel has visa waivers with many European and South American countries, but Israeli tourists will have to have visas even to make a stopover in the country’s closest ally, the United States.
The Emirati delegation also officially called on Tuesday for the creation of an embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel to do the same in Abu Dhabi.
Another bilateral agreement signed Tuesday paves the way for direct flights between Tel Aviv and the Emirates, announcing industrial relations between two of the richest countries in the region and opening up a major new center for Israelis traveling to the Far East. such as offering protection to investors and selling clinical and technological cooperation.
Trump’s management officials also announced that the governments of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel will create a $ 3 billion investment fund, called the Abraham Fund, which would seek to publicize personal investment in Israel, the West Bank and the Middle East and North. Africa.
One of his first planned projects is the relaunch of an Israel pipeline from Eilat in the Red Sea to Ashkelon in the Mediterranean to send Emirati oil to European customers. This would allow oil to overlook the Suez Canal, reducing energy costs and accelerating shipments, said Adam Boehler, executive leader of the U. S. Financial Corporation for International Development, a government agency.
The Med-Red pipeline built decades ago to send Iranian oil, Mr Boehler, before the 1979 Islamic revolution turned Israel and Iran from allies into staunch enemies.
The other initial plan would be to “modernize checkpoints” for the estimated 2. 7 million Palestinians living in the Israeli profession of the West Bank, Boehler said. Israel has already modernized several key passages with biometric scanners and other technologies, reducing the time it takes to get those bottlenecks from a few hours to a few minutes.
In an interview, Boehler said that Netanyahu had recently insisted on the lunch concept and made innovations at checkpoints 1 on his list of ‘recommendations for the new fund’.
But the announcement sparked strong complaints from Palestinian officials, who said it meant that cash from the United Arab Emirates and the United States would be used to bolster the israeli army government. The news gave the impression of increasing the feeling of betrayal of Palestinians across the United Arab Emirates.
Ahmad Majdalani, Palestinian Authority’s minister of social development, Ahmad Majdalani, “is a sign of approval for the continuation of the Israeli occupation. It is a gift that will inspire Israel to continue its unjust actions. “
The Emirati insisted that normalizing relations with Israel would in the end be useful for the Palestinian cause, but Majdalani apparently said that modernizing EMIRATES-funded checkpoints would not bring peace closer.
“They deceive us with what they do, ” he said.
Boehler defended spending at checkpoints, where in a general day tens or even thousands of Palestinians enter Israeli territory to receive paintings or medical appointments.
“If the Palestinians make up other peoples and we can earn 200,000 or 400,000 hours every day, that’s a huge economic cost,” he said. “It makes a big difference. And that makes a big difference for the rest of the people at the West Bank.
Boehler said the fund would also “examine investments that gain advantages from the resistance of other people in the West Bank. “
In a statement, Emirati State Minister Ahmed Al Sayegh said the fund aimed to “put people’s well-being first, regardless of their trust or identity. “
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