UAE’s first ambassador to Israel sworn in

The first ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Israel has been sworn in one month after the Arab country’s cabinet approved the establishment of an embassy in Tel Aviv.

The ambassador, Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Khaja, was sworn in on Sunday by the United Arab Emirates' vice president and prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the ruler of Dubai.

In the swearing-in ceremony, the UAE prime minister called on Al-Khaja to work to consolidate relations between the UAE and Israel in a way that promotes a culture of “peace, coexistence and tolerance,” according to Emirates news agency WAM.

The cabinet of the UAE approved the setting up of an embassy in Tel Aviv last month.

Israel officially opened its embassy in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi last month with Eitan Na’eh serving as an acting ambassador.

Israel signed US-brokered normalization deals with the UAE and Bahrain on September 15, 2020, known as the Abraham Accords. Since then, several bilateral meetings and visits have been conducted between Israeli and Emirati officials.

Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital, view the deals as a betrayal of their cause.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas protested the normalization deals with Israel, saying they will be fruitless as long as the United States and the Israeli regime do not recognize the rights of the Palestinian nation and refuse to resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Abbas reiterated that there will be no peace, security or stability for anyone in the region unless the Israeli regime ended its occupation of Palestinian land, and Palestinians could restore their full rights as stipulated in international resolutions.

In turn, the UAE and Bahrain have dramatically slashed their financial assistance to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after the two Persian Gulf states agreed to clinch US-brokered deals to normalize ties with Israel.

UAE, Bahrain sharply decreased aid to Palestinians following normalization with Israel: Report

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have substantially cut back funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees following their normalization with Israel.

Israeli Channel 12 television network, citing Center for Near East Policy Research, reported earlier this month that while the UAE funded the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) $53 million and $51 million in 2018 and 2019 respectively, it provided the agency a mere $1 million last year.

The report added that Bahrain had also cut funds, but did not provide any figures. UNRWA confirmed the account.

The report said the moves could be seen as an act of retaliation after the Palestinians condemned the two Persian Gulf states over their diplomatic ties with Israel, and accused them of treachery.

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