UAE becomes the first Arab country to place Visa exemption for Israeli nationals
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A first-ever commercial passenger flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel touched soils of Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself rushed to the airport as he welcomed dignitaries. The pace of normalisation of relations is speeding up after signing of controversial Abraham accord on 15th September.
Today we are making history, we are making history to stand for generations- Netanyahu said during the trilateral summit meeting with the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America. US secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, UAE ministers for financial affairs, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, and for the economy, attended the function Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri among others.
Later in the day, Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed four agreements. It includes agreements pertaining to investment protection, science and technology, aviation and visa exemption. Thus, UAE became the first Arab country that made visa-free travel arrangement with Israel. Visa exemption deal was signed by Israel Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Miri Regev and UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri- statement by Israel Prime Minister's office reads.
The four agreements are accompanied by the establishment of Abraham Fund, in which the United States, UAE, Israel will mobilize more than $3 billion for the regional development-statement by US embassy in Israel had said earlier in a statement.
The normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab nations has caused for widespread criticism from Palestinian people who say it relegated their rights and not comply with the Palestinian cause.