Israel's President Invites Abu Dhabi Crown Prince to Jerusalem

Gulf

August 17th, 4:41pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

The national flags of the UAE and Israel flutter along a highway following the agreement to formalize ties between the two countries, in Netanya, Israel August 17, 2020. (Reuters)

Israel’s president on Monday invited Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to visit Jerusalem, praising his role in achieving a “noble and courageous” deal to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE. Both countries announced on Thursday they would forge formal ties under a US-sponsored deal whose implementation could recast Middle East politics ranging from the Palestinian issue to dealing with Iran. “In these fateful days, leadership is measured by its courage and ability to be groundbreaking and far-sighted,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin wrote in a letter to Sheikh Mohammed. “I have no doubt that future generations will appreciate the way you, the brave and wise leaders, have restarted the discourse on peace, trust, dialogue between peoples and religions, cooperation and a promising future,” Rivlin wrote. “On behalf of the people of Israel and (me) personally, I take this opportunity to extend an invitation to Your Highness to visit Israel and Jerusalem and be our honored guest,” Rivlin said in the letter, which his spokesman released publicly. The Palestinians have called the deal a “betrayal” by an Arab country that they have long looked to for support in establishing a state in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. “I am hopeful,” Rivlin’s letter went on, “that this step will help build and strengthen the trust between us and the peoples of the region, a trust that will promote understanding between us all. “Such trust, as demonstrated in the noble and courageous act, will set our region forward, bring economic well-being and provide prosperity and stability to the people of the Middle East as a whole.”

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2453701/israels-president-invites-abu-dhabi-crown-prince-jerusalem