Military and Strategic Journal
Issued by the Directorate of Morale Guidance at the General Command of the Armed Forces
United Arab Emirates
Founded in August 1971

2020-10-19

UAE-Israel Accord:Bold, New Path to Peace and Progress

The historic peace accord signed in Washington between the UAE and Israel has generated huge   positive response from across the globe and that’s not surprising considering the extraordinary benefits the region and the rest of the world will reap from the agreement. 
 
The primary and biggest takeaway from the accord is PEACE itself. The pact helps pave way for peace to reign not only in the Middle East, but well beyond. And in a region rocked by turmoil for years, peace forms the very foundation for progress and prosperity. Any other option would signify continued destruction, poverty, and human suffering.
 
Another phenomenal achievement of the agreement is an immediate halt to annexation by Israel of parts of occupied West Bank, which the international community could not do much about except issuing mere statements of condemnation. 
 
Israel seizing the opportunity of peace  instead of Palestinian land is certainly a major accomplishment of the accord. 
 
A Noble Path
At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has startled humanity, reconciliation is a noble path and the United Arab Emirates has achieved a strategic, diplomatic breakthrough, exhibiting courage and conviction to achieve that. 
 
While Israel has signed separate bilateral normalisation agreements with the UAE and Bahrain, all three countries have also signed a trilateral document, dubbed the “Abraham Accords” after the patriarch of the world’s three major monotheistic religions. 
 
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has rightly  underscored how the UAE-Israel Accord will advance regional peace and stability by halting annexation and creating new energy for positive change across the Middle East.
 
Going ahead with the pact, the UAE has also seen to it that its longstanding commitment to the Palestinian people is not diluted.
 
The UAE considers the U.S. a most important and strategic partner. For over a decade, the UAE has remained the largest export market for U.S. goods and services in the Middle East.
 
The elation in Washington is palpable. In U.S. President Donald Trump’s words, the signing of the Abraham Accords will “change the course of history,” and marks “the dawn of a new Middle East.”
 
“Together these agreements will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive peace across the entire region, something which nobody thought was possible, certainly not in this day and age,” Trump stated. “These agreements prove that the nations of the region are breaking free from failed approaches of the past. The signing sets history on a new course and there will be other countries very soon that will follow these great leaders.”
 
Immense Opportunities For Development
While the agreement promotes ‘warm peace’ in the region, it has also created immense opportunities for wide-ranging developmental deals.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, has lucidly underlined the importance of the economic benefits of signing the agreement, based on its role in stimulating trade and investment cooperation in various fields between the UAE and Israel, as well as the region as a whole. 
 
In his own words: “The outcomes of signing this historic accord will pave the way for new business and investment opportunities, generating new cash flows and robust business activities that will provide immediate benefits to the UAE and Israel. The private sectors in both countries, as well as the regional economies, will undoubtedly benefit from this accord.
 
“Our efforts and initiatives in this regard are part of our vision to overcome the economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, promote growth, support business activities across all key sectors, enhance national economy’s resilience and competitiveness, and develop a long-term economic development model.”
 
On the ground, the spirit of cooperation is already noticeable. 
 
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office, ADIO, plans to open a network of international offices to support global companies looking to establish and expand their operations in the UAE capital. Its first international office will be located in Tel Aviv and will focus on facilitating connections between innovation-focused companies and organisations in Abu Dhabi and Israel.
 
Abu Dhabi is firmly established as a highly attractive market for international investors, with diverse opportunities for individual and institutional investors across numerous high-growth industries and well-established financial markets. 
 
As a leading regional R&D hub and home to a thriving tech industry, Abu Dhabi is well placed to partner with Israeli organisations at the forefront of innovation.
 
On the banking front, Emirates NBD, a leading group in the Middle East, North Africa, MENA, region and Bank Leumi Le-Israel, one of Israel’s leading banks, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, (MoU).
 
One of Israel’s longest-standing banks, Bank Leumi previously served as the central bank of Israel until 1954. It currently holds an approximate 30 per cent market share in the Israeli banking system.
 
In Emirates NBD’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim’s words:  “We look forward to working together with Bank Leumi to explore areas of mutual economic and commercial cooperation. Our agreement demonstrates a further strengthening of our relationship with Israel’s banking industry, which will benefit our brand, our clients and the UAE economy, through new business and trade opportunities.”
 
Separately, DP World, a leading global provider of smart end-to-end logistics solutions, and Dubai Customs will be exploring opportunities to develop trade links between Israel and the UAE, following the signing of a series of memorandums of understanding.
 
Group Chairman and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem recently signed MoUs with Dover Tower, a company owned by Shlomi Fogel, the co-owner of Israel Shipyards and Port of Eilat.
 
The MoUs create a framework for the companies to work together in assessing opportunities to develop infrastructure for trade between Israel and the UAE, as well as within Israel and the region.
 
The MoUs cover three broad areas of cooperation: DP World will assess the development of Israeli ports and free zones and the potential establishment of a direct shipping route between Eilat and Jebel Ali; Dubai Customs will promote and facilitate trade between private entities in the two countries through customs best practice and seamless, innovative processes; and Drydocks World will explore business opportunities with Israel Shipyards Ltd (ISL) on a joint venture for developing, manufacturing and marketing ISL products.
 
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a sector that cannot anymore be ignored by any country desiring progress. The UAE remains one of the key promoters of AI on multifarious fronts.   
 
The Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, (MBZUAI), in the UAE and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which will see the two higher education institutes work together across a range of fields, with the aim to advance the development and use of artificial intelligence as a tool for progress.
 
The MoU, which is the first of its kind to be signed between two higher education institutes from the UAE and Israel, covers a range of opportunities for collaboration, including student and postdoctoral fellows exchange programmes, conferences and seminars, various forms of exchange between researchers, sharing of computing resources, and the establishment of a joint virtual institute for artificial intelligence.
 
Co-operation, Not Confrontation, is The Way Forward
Pragmatism has remained the key word in UAE’s proactive foreign policy. The historical agreement with Israel, ushering in a new bold path to peace and prosperity, reinforces the country’s progressive approach.
 

Add Comment

Your comment was successfully added!

Visitors Comments

No Comments

Related Topics

Boeing to Build 184 Apaches for U.S. Army, Global Customers

Read More

Two more NATO Members Root for ROSY

Read More

BAE Systems and Supernal Join Forces for eVTOL Flight Control System

Read More

Global Combat Air Programme Developments Announced at DSEI

Read More

BAE Delivers Key Hardware for EC-37B Compass Call Aircraft

Read More

Australia’s First PC-24 Air Ambulance

Read More
Close

2024-02-26 Current issue
Pervious issues
2017-05-13
2014-03-16
2012-01-01
2014-01-01
2021-06-01
2021-02-21
2022-06-01
2021-09-15
.

Voting

?What about new design for our website

  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
Voting Number 1647