Israeli Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen cancelled her participation in an international conference in the United Arab Emirates this week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office refused to grant her permission.
Ministers require permission from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Secretary for overseas trips. Netanyahu has refused to grant permission to ministers to visit the Gulf state and officials in his office have said that the policy will remain in effect until he travels to the UAE.
Netanyahu was supposed to visit Abu Dhabi before the March 23 election but the trip was also cancelled at the last minute.
In March, the prime minister also blocked Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi from traveling to the UAE to inaugurate Israel’s new missions in the Gulf country.
Farkash-Hacohen was supposed to attend the Arabian Travel Market taking place in Dubai between May 16 and 19. She was supposed to be on a panel called “Tourism Beyond COVID Recovery” alongside Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, the UAE minister of state for Entrepreneurship and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and Zayed R. Alzayani, Bahrain’s minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
Officials in the Tourism Ministry confirmed that Farkash-Hacohen had canceled her visit to Dubai after her office was informed that the PMO would not grant permission for her to make the trip.