Israel, UAE, Bahrain, US Celebrate 2-Year Anniversary of Abraham Accords

Photo Credit: Official WH Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian via Flickr CC

Just after signing of the Abraham Accords, Sept. 15, 2020

The original, founding signatories to the historic Abraham Accords this week are marking the second anniversary of the normalization agreement with a plethora of events.

Former Bahrain Ambassador to the United States Houda Nonoo (ret.), who is Jewish, said in a statement that as citizens of the region, “we must celebrate the milestones between our nations. Through our support of them, coupled with the guiding light that our leaders and their diplomatic emissaries provide, we are able to watch as this relationship reaches its true potential.

“If this past year is any indication, the relationship between Bahrain and Israel is strong and will continue to flourish,” Nonoo predicted.

Although no official announcement has been made, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan – who represented his nation at the White House signing of the document on September 15, 2020 – will visit Israel this week, according to The Circuit.

Following his three-hour flight from Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s top diplomat is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, President Isaac Herzog, and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with other top Israeli officials.

His visit to Israel followed one last week by a delegation of Emirati bankers, oil traders and tech entrepreneurs. Among the visitors were executives from the Mubadala Petroleum unit of Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund which last year paid $1 billion for a 20 percent stake in Israel’s offshore Tamar gas field.

During the two-day visit, Israeli and Emirati business leaders signed a series of agreements as public Israeli-UAE relations now enter their third year.

The three memorandums of understanding included a cooperation agreement between the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Israel’s Start-Up Nation Central; an agreement to increase cybersecurity literacy signed by ADGM Academy and Israel’s Avnon Group Middle East; and an MOU to strengthen data privacy signed by Israeli and UAE regulatory offices.

The September 6 forum was organized by ADGM Chairperson Ahmed Jasim Al Za’abi, together with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

“The Abraham Accords unleashed great opportunity and potential for our region. We have shifted the dialogue from defense and security to innovation and collaboration,” noted Start-Up Nation Central CEO Avi Hasson.

“As we look toward the third year of this relationship, we believe that trade and investment between Israel and the Abraham Accord countries will double in 2023 and that innovation and technology will continue to play a significant part in this as more Israeli companies will open offices in the Accords countries and will hire and train local tech talent, addressing the human capital challenge while also contributing to the development of the innovation ecosystem in these countries,” he added.