UAE: Israeli minister secretly visited for talks
Yoav Kisch, the Israeli Education Minister, secretly visited the UAE to discuss expanding cooperation in education, research, and artificial intelligence (AI), as reported by The New Arab and agencies on January 21st.
During the visit, which took place between January 11th and 16th, Kisch met with his UAE counterpart, Sarah al-Amiri, to discuss ways to expand cooperation on academic and research initiatives.
News of the visit was not made public until Kisch returned to Israel, and officials cited security concerns as the justification for its secrecy. State media said that Kisch also met with the head of the UAE’s Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee, Ali al-Nuami, to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Under the US-backed Abraham Accords, established in 2020 to normalise relations between Israel and Arab countries, ties between Israel and the UAE, a signatory of the accords, have grown, enabling mutual economic and security cooperation.
Since 2021, both countries have expanded educational exchanges, and in 2023, the UAE announced the introduction of Holocaust education into primary and secondary school curricula.
Ties between Israel and Arab states, such as Morocco, have continued to grow despite Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed at least 71,000 people since October 2023.
It was reported on January 20th and 21st that the monarchs of Morocco and Bahrain, both Abraham Accords signatories, had accepted US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the so-called “Board of Peace” to oversee the reconstruction and governance of post-war Gaza.
The “Board of Peace” has faced criticism over its lack of Palestinian representation, which has led to some critics describing it as a colonial endeavour that undermines the right of Palestinians to choose their representatives.
Despite continuing to strengthen military ties with Israel, the UAE has condemned Israeli plans for territorial expansion under the “Greater Israel” initiative, which would see Israel expand its borders to fully occupy Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Syria’s Golan Heights, and parts of Jordan.
Furthermore, the UAE opposed Trump’s February 2025 proposal to forcibly displace Gaza’s population to countries outside of historic Palestine, to Arab countries, such as Jordan and Egypt.
The New Arab and agencies, Maghrebi.org
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