Emirati official says UAE realized lack of ties was ‘not healthy’

The Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, tells Israeli media that the UAE over time realized the lack of ties with Israel was detrimental.

“This is a relationship that has developed slowly,” Gargash told Walla’s Barak Ravid, in what was billed as the first open interview by an Emirati official with Israeli media.

“We have come to a realization that no communication is not really a healthy choice,” Gargash says.

“I think on the other hand also we’ve seen that many countries that have issues with Israel have also contacts with Israel and have cooperation with Israel,” Gargash says.

1 Exclusive: The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the UAE @AnwarGargash told me in a zoom interview from Abu Dhabi the UAE realized in the last few years that not having any communication with Israel is not a healthy situation. Watch: pic.twitter.com/pbhJ4t6BE4

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) August 15, 2020

“I think for us to move from point A to point B has been a learning experience,” he says, adding that the UAE still has “an issue with regards to the political aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Gargash says he hopes for “reciprocity,” embassies, and cooperation in the fields of agriculture, security, technology and tourism.