The United Arab Emirates (UAE) submitted a request to open an embassy in Israel after both nations – UAE and Israel normalized their ties in a historical move that was facilitated by the Trump administration.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met with an Emirati delegation, which arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday for the first high-level visit from the Gulf state to Israel.
Omar Saif Ghobash, an adviser to Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, presented a letter from Al-Nahyan to Ashkenazi to open an embassy in Israel.
In his letter, Al-Nahyan thanked Ashkenazi for his support to the development of relations between the two countries and expressed hope that Israel will soon open its embassy in Abu Dhabi.
On Sept. 15, the UAE and Bahrain agreed to establish full diplomatic, cultural and commercial relations with Israel after signing controversial agreements at the White House. The deals have drawn widespread condemnation from Palestinians, who say the accords ignore their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.
Meanwhile, it is yet clear where will the UAE open its embassy – the contested Jerusalem or Tel-Aviv. According to reports, UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan conveyed his request to Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi to open an embassy in Tel-Aviv.
Meanwhile, Sudan on Tuesday denied any link between the country’s removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism and normalization with Israel.
“I can confirm that there is no link between the issue of normalization with Israel and the lifting of Sudan from the terror list,” Foreign Minister Omer Qamar Aldin told a press conference in Khartoum.
He said Sudan’s removal from the US blacklist was “the first step for Sudan’s return to the international community”.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced the removal of Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism after Khartoum agreed to pay $335 million as a settlement to the victims of 1998 twin bombings of the US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
For his part, the governor of Sudan’s Central Bank, Mohamed Alfatih Zain Alabdin, confirmed that Sudan has transferred $335 million to the families of the 1998 bombings.
The US placed Sudan on the terror list in 1993 on accusations of supporting terror groups. In 1997, Washington imposed economic sanctions on Khartoum and tightened them a year later after the embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania.
Sudanese political forces announced categorical rejection of normalization with Israel amid talks of a possible Sudanese deal after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed US-sponsored deals in Washington in last month.
The two Gulf states ignored Arab popular rejection of the deal, which Palestinians say ignore their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.
