Israeli foreign minister Yisrael Katz on Sunday visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and attended a UN meeting on the environment, just days after Israeli officials and journalists visited Bahrain for a US-sponsored economic conference on Palestine.
According to the Hebrew media, Katz, who also holds the ministry of intelligence portfolio, met with senior UAE officials. Katz flew to Abu Dhabi on Sunday and left on Monday.
"I am excited to stand here in Abu Dhabi and represent the interests of the state of Israel vis-à-vis the Arab Gulf states,” Katz said in press remarks. “This is a significant step up in the relations between Israel and the states in the region.”
This was Katz's second public visit to a Gulf country in eight months. In November, as transportation minister, he attended a transportation conference in Oman.
During Katz's meeting with UAE officials, he discussed the relationship between Israel and UAE, as were regional issues, including Iran and its nuclear program.
The statement said that Katz and UAE officials also discussed developing ties between the two countries in the spheres of high tech, energy, agriculture and water management.
“I will continue to work with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to promote the normalization policy from a position of strength, based on Israel's capabilities, both in the fields of security and intelligence, and in the various civilian spheres. I see this as one of my major challenges as foreign minister, and I intend to continue leading this policy in the future,” he said.
Katz also presented a plan that would link the Gulf countries to the Mediterranean Sea via train tracks running through Jordan and Israel. Katz presented this plan at an international railroad conference in Oman in November.
Katz also met on the sidelines of the environment conference with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and raised the issue of Israel soldiers being held in Gaza.
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