Israel Ratifies Visa Exemption Agreement With UAE, First With Arab State

Israel’s cabinet ratified a mutual visa exemption agreement with the United Arab Emirates on Sunday — the Jewish state’s first ever such agreement with an Arab country.

The ministers voted unanimously to approve the treaty, which was signed in Tel Aviv last month. The UAE government reportedly ratified the agreement on November 1, which means that it will enter into force in 30 days.

“This is the first Arab country with which we have signed such an agreement and this is a step that will facilitate reciprocal tourism,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the vote at the weekly cabinet meeting.

Of course, this will develop and strengthen ties between the countries as well as economic links. I believe that every citizen of Israel, the entire world, sees the great change that we are bringing to our region in every field.”

The prime minister mentioned the visit to Israel of Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani last week, noting that Jerusalem and Manama did not have diplomatic relations until very recently.