The UAE announced Monday that the process of opening its embassy in Tel Aviv has been impacted by current movement restrictions in place to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the Foreign Ministry is currently coordinating with its counterparts in Israel regarding the issue.
"With UAE and Israeli efforts to lead the world’s fastest vaccination campaigns, we remain hopeful that the situation will improve and that the process of opening the embassy can be completed soon,” the Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) said in a statement, carried by WAM.
Meanwhile, the Israeli embassy in the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi is currently operating in a temporary office until a permanent facility is located.
Israel’s ambassador to the UAE Eitan Na’eh, who currently serves as charge d’affaires, has already arrived in Abu Dhabi during the weekend on a direct flight from Tel Aviv to Dubai and then traveled to the Emirati capital by car.
The Israeli ambassador is unofficially working from a self-quarantine hotel room, awaiting the arrival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who plans to personally open the embassy early next month.
However, the Israeli PM’s trip has not been finalized yet and the dates could change due to limits on flights as part of Israel’s policies to combat COVID-19.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement published in both Hebrew and Arabic that the new embassy "will advance the range of relations between the countries in all areas and expand ties with the Emirati government, economic bodies and the private sector, academia, media, and more.”
The Ministry had recently criticized Netanyahu for appointing his deputy as an ambassador to the UAE and an Israeli consul in Dubai while in return there are still 36 new ambassadors and consuls appointed in diplomatic missions abroad but still have not received the approval of the government due to internal disputes among its ministers.
