UAE and Israel can cooperate on some areas, says Emirates minister
“Can I have a political disagreement with Israel, but at the same time, try and bridge other areas? I think I can,” Gargash said. “And I think this is fundamentally where we are today."
By OMRI NAHMIASMinister of State for Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash (R) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R)(photo credit: REUTERS & MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
WASHINGTON - Dr. Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, said on Tuesday that despite political differences between the UAE and Israel, both countries could cooperate on some areas.Speaking at the virtual Global Forum of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Gargash said: "We can come to a point where we come to a given Israeli government... and we say, 'we disagree with you on this. We don't think it's a good idea, but at the same time, there are areas such as COVID, technology and other things that we can actually work together on.'“Can I have a political disagreement with Israel, but at the same time, try and bridge other areas? I think I can,” he continued. “And I think this is fundamentally where we are today. We are, for example, facing the COVID-19 challenge. And if I am able to work with the UN and working through the UN with Israel to try and bring support to the Palestinians' very fragile health services, then why not?”Gargash also addressed the prospects of Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, saying that while the UAE opposes the move, there are regional issues other than the political one.“How does that really affect my position vis-a-vis issues such as the proposed annexation? I think 60, 70 years of the relationship has shown that the full breakup of the relationship between Israel and the Arab countries has increased the animosity – and has built, in my opinion, a huge and deep gap that could have been much easier to bridge,” he said.“The UAE today is part and parcel of the consensus that basically looks at the solution as two states. The UAE also wants to see continued Palestinian Israeli negotiations,” Gargash continued.“The UAE is clearly against any annexation as being proposed by the current Israeli government. Having said that, that is in the political domain. Do I have to look at all the other domains and make them basically static because of the political domain?" he asked."I think we've tried that over many years as a group of Arab countries. And I don't think it has really led to what we want in terms of bringing stability to the region.”
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