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UAE United Arab Emirates
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff, left, with UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba, at the White House, September 15, 2020 (courtesy)
Raphael Ahren
Interview
Raphael Ahren
26 years after first Israeli-UAE meet, new ties bring a diplomat full circle
Recalling his first discreet contact with an Emirati official, Jeremy Issacharoff relishes finally being able to ‘take the mask off’ bilateral relationship
View of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 29, 2018. (Aijaz Rahi/AP)
September 20, 2020, 12:45 pm
Dubai conglomerate Al Habtoor is latest UAE company to announce Israel plans
Company deals in real estate, education, hospitality, automotive industries among others; says it will open Israel office, work with Israir on direct flights
By TOI staff and AP
Yehuda Sarna, Chief Rabbi of the United Arab Emirates, blows the shofar in Dubai, September 18, 2020 (video screenshot)
September 19, 2020, 4:54 pm
UAE’s chief rabbi blows shofar in Dubai in new video
Yehuda Sarna’s clip is a fitting gesture at the end of a historic week that saw Abu Dhabi formalize relations with Israel, bolster ties to its own Jewish community
By TOI staff
From left to right: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani stand on the Blue Room Balcony during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
September 18, 2020, 10:22 pm
Days after peace deals, top UAE and Bahraini officials wish Jews happy new year
King’s adviser Khalid al-Khalifa addresses ‘Yehudi’ friends in Bahrain and around the world, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan tweets holiday greetings in Hebrew
By TOI staff
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attends the oppening of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, March 31, 2019. (Fethi Belaid/ Pool photo via AP)
September 18, 2020, 3:24 pm
Qatar won’t normalize with Israel before 2-state solution reached, envoy says
Gulf state’s ambassador to US says Doha open to relations with Jerusalem if Palestinian state established, touts country’s role as a mediator between Israel, Hamas
By TOI staff
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff, left, with UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba, at the White House, September 15, 2020 (courtesy)
September 17, 2020, 3:51 am
26 years after first Israeli-UAE meet, new ties bring a diplomat full circle
Recalling his first discreet contact with an Emirati official, Jeremy Issacharoff relishes finally being able to ‘take the mask off’ bilateral relationship
By Raphael Ahren
(L-R)Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan hold up documents as they participated in the signing of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, at the White House in Washington, DC, September 15, 2020. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)
September 16, 2020, 6:50 pm
Israel-UAE peace key to averting global climate disaster — Tel Aviv U. scholar
In ‘The Power of Deserts,’ Prof. Dan Rabinowitz envisions a new Mideast paradigm to save the planet — one that is unexpectedly playing out today under new normalization ties
By Aviv Lavie
Anwar Gargash, the Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, at the UAE Security Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
September 15, 2020, 6:06 pm
Top UAE official: Peace treaty will only refer to two-state solution indirectly
Once anger over normalization with Jerusalem subsides, Palestinians will realize that UAE and Bahrain have more ‘leverage’ to pressure Israel into concessions, Anwar Gargash says
By Raphael Ahren
UAE Assistant Minister of Cultural and Public Diplomacy Omarr Ghobash. (Courtesy)
September 15, 2020, 9:28 am
‘Palestinians need to want to help themselves,’ senior UAE diplomat tells ToI
Assistant FM encourages PA to use annexation suspension to reengage with Israel; downplays disagreement over F-35 sale, saying real issue is new Middle East ushered in by accord
By Jacob Magid
Omar Saif Ghobash, assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy in the United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry. (YouTube screenshot)
September 14, 2020, 9:57 pm
Top Emirati diplomat: Peace with Israel will better serve Palestinian cause
Assistant FM says deal will allow UAE to ‘put pressure’ where needed, also hopes for discourse with ‘Palestinian Israelis’; says young Emiratis excited to visit Jewish state
By TOI staff
Jared Kushner (right) meets Bahrain's king and crown prince in Manama in early September, 2020, in an image posted by Ivanka Trump on September 12 (Twitter)
September 14, 2020, 1:07 pm
Bahrain won’t have to abolish Israel boycott law — because it did so years ago
As opposed to UAE, tiny island kingdom withdrew legislation in 2005 after inking free-trade agreement with US; Manama currently busy rescinding other anti-Israel rules
By Raphael Ahren
Israeli model May Tager, left, covers herself with an Israeli flag next to Anastasia Bandarenka, a Dubai-based model who covers herself in a UAE flag on the set of a photo shoot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, September 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
September 13, 2020, 1:43 pm
Emiratis are ‘enthusiastic’ about peace with Israel, senior UAE official says
‘There needs to be trust’ for bilateral ties to flourish, Hend al-Otaiba says on controversial F-35 deal with US; vows Abu Dhabi’s support for Palestinians ‘will never diminish’
By Raphael Ahren
Fans of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team hold up a sign reading 'Beitar forever pure,' on January 26, 2013. (Flash90)
September 13, 2020, 10:33 am
UAE investor said mulling stake in Israeli soccer team known for anti-Arab fans
Headway reportedly made in potential deal between unnamed entrepreneur and Beitar Jerusalem, notorious for some supporters’ anti-Muslim sentiment despite attempts to change image
By TOI staff
Illustrative: Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) march during the annual military parade, marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the devastating 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, in the capital Tehran, on September 22, 2018. (AFP/STR)
September 12, 2020, 11:01 pm
Revolutionary Guard: Bahrain Shiites will take ‘harsh revenge’ for Israel deal
Hezbollah blasts ‘public betrayal of the Palestinians’ by Gulf nation for decision to normalize ties
By TOI staff and Agencies
Israel's Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (left) and his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, as pictured in a tweet from the Bahrain foreign ministry after their first publicly acknowledged phone call, September 12, 2020 (Twitter)
September 12, 2020, 1:55 pm
After announcement of Bahrain ties, Israel says it wants to quickly open embassy
FMs speak on phone, discuss advancing common interests; Foreign Ministry official says Jerusalem hopes to establish diplomatic presence in Manama as soon as possible
By TOI staff
Combination image shows (L) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairing the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on June 28, 2020, and (R) King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, speaking with another delegate during the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council summit held at the Saudi capital Riyadh on December 10, 2019. (Ronen Zvulun and Fayez Nureldine/Various Sources/AFP)
September 12, 2020, 4:19 am
Bahraini opposition blasts normalization deal with Israel
Leading group calls agreement ‘illegitimate’; unlike UAE, which saw little backlash to accord with Jerusalem, Bahrain has history of internal political opposition
By Aaron Boxerman
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