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Israeli Cabinet Green-lights UAE Normalization

Israel’s government has formally given the nod to normalization with the United Arab Emirates, signed on September 15 in Washington by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The accord now requires ratification by Israeli lawmakers, who are expected to give their approval on Thursday. Ratification is also required in Abu Dhabi before the agreement takes effect. Also on Monday, Netanyahu’s office announced that he would meet “soon” with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the man in the UAE seen as being behind the accord with Israel. Earlier in the morning, the crown prince tweeted that he had spoken by phone with Netanyahu, the two having “discussed strengthening bilateral ties and examined prospects for peace and the need for stability, cooperation and development in the region.” The tweet and the vote in Israel’s cabinet coincided with the arrival in the northern Israeli port of Haifa of a vessel carrying cargo from the UAE – the first official commerce between the two countries. The containers aboard the MSC Paris included electronics and firefighting equipment sent from Dubai.