Emirates to establish its Embassy in Tel Aviv

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will establish a national embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, its foreign minister Anwar Gargash said during a video conference Thursday with the U.S.-based Atlantic Council panel.

As published by the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Anwar Gargash said that when the agreement of normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel is signed, announced last week, "Abu Dhabi will have its embassy in Tel Aviv based on the international consensus for a two-state solution", referring to the Palestinian issue. "The Embassy will be in Tel Aviv. This is very clear," he said.

Precisely, the solution of constituting two states at the same time, both the Israeli and the Palestinian ones, is the solution most defended by the Gulf country throughout all this time and also the one most supported by many actors of the international community, in order to solve the Palestinian problem and to pacify the Middle East region.

Regarding the progress made in last week's pact, called the 'Abraham Agreement', the UAE diplomat noted that "the most concrete achievement was to stop the annexation of Palestinian land"; he also reiterated the UAE's commitment to a two-state solution.

Although referring to the halting of the annexation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank destined for Jewish settlements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nevertheless said he agreed to delay the annexation of the occupied West Bank as part of a normalization agreement, but also wanted to make it clear in part that this Hebrew strategy is still "on the table".

The agreement has long-term benefits, Gargash said, and "certainly this step will create opportunities. Thus, the emirate minister explained that the Arab nation's economy is bigger than Israel's and that Israel has great opportunities because of this after the resumption of diplomatic relations between the emirates and Israel. At this point, there is some unfinished business, such as the purchase of F-35 fighter planes from the United States that the UAE had requested. "Our first request was six years ago. Our legal request is on the table," Gargash said, adding that the request has nothing to do with the last agreement reached. 

Regarding the pact between the UAE and Israel, Anwar Gargash also clarified, in an interview with the Atlantic Council, that stopping Israel's annexation of Palestinian territories was a basic condition of the agreement. He clarified that the UAE did not negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians, as only they will decide the future of their own state.