Netanyahu Plans to Visit UAE Next Week in First Foreign Trip
WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning an official visit to the United Arab Emirates for his first foreign trip as leader of the regime’s new rulers, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
While details are still being worked out, Netanyahu could visit the UAE as early as next week, Israeli media reported.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan called Netanyahu on Saturday to congratulate him after his swearing-in ceremony. According to an Israeli readout of the call, the two agreed that a visit by Netanyahu to the UAE would “take place soon”.
During his previous term in office, Netanyahu signed the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between the Zionist regime, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.
While normalization with Bahrain and Sudan has been slow, the occupying regime’s ties with the UAE are flourishing. Tourists from the occupied territories have flocked to Dubai and the two countries signed a historic free trade deal last year.
Travelling to the UAE would be a symbolic victory for Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has already stated that the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, deemed illegal under international law, is one of the main goals of his cabinet.
Netanyahu’s attempt to visit the UAE in March 2021 was viewed by some as a ploy to take credit for the regime’s foreign policy ‘achievements’ just days before elections that would remove Netanyahu from power. His trip was ultimately cancelled after Jordan delayed approving his flight path in retaliation for the regime’s cancelling the Jordanian crown prince’s trip to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds.