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SARAJEVO, September 14 (FENA) - This year, September 15 marks the first anniversary of the signing of the Abrahamic Agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with the aim of normalizing relations in the Middle East.
On that occasion, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said in an interview with FENA that the signing of that agreement did not mark the end but the beginning of the process and represents the decision of the countries to look to the future of the Middle East and not dwell on the past.
In the year since the signing of the Abrahamic Agreement, Israel has opened a consulate general in Dubai (UAE), embassies in Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Manama (Bahrain). The UAE and Bahrain have opened embassies in Tel Aviv and appointed ambassadors to Israel.
The first direct flight between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi took place on April 6, 2021, and thousands of visits to Israel and the UAE have been made since then.
Trade between Israel and the UAE increased almost 12-fold from $50.8 million between January and June 2020 to $613.9 million in the same period this year, Haiat said, adding that it was a great achievement, especially since this last year was marked by a coronavirus pandemic.
He assessed that by establishing peace and full cooperation, the Abrahamic Agreement effectively consolidated the moderate forces in the region and transformed the Middle East.
"We intend to continue the process that began with the Abrahamic Agreement, on strengthening the Israeli presence in the region. We will work on further strengthening peace and signing agreements with several countries in the region and beyond," he added.
He explained that there are numerous bilateral agreements signed with countries in the field of economy, trade, culture, tourism, science and technology, and these are the bases for future relations between those nations.
He is of the opinion that other countries in the regions have begun to consider signing such agreements as there are a number of benefits that have been realized in the first year of implementation of the Abrahamic Agreement.
"Since Israel existed in 1948, we have been trying to achieve peace with all our neighbors, and although we are now marking the anniversary of the Abrahamic Agreement with such activities, we started by signing a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979 and an important 1994 peace agreement with Jordan," visited Haiat.
He points out that such an approach to signing intercountry agreements is a way to solve many issues in the Middle East region, not only between individual states, but also a way to solve regional problems such as terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism.
"It will be easier to talk to leaders who want peace, stability and prosperity than to those who seek conflict, war or terrorism. The more countries that want to join this peace circle, the easier it will be to face these challenges," Haiat added.
He says that he does not only mean the political challenges that countries have among themselves, but also when it comes to climate change, lack of water resources, but also challenges in terms of technology. All of these, he adds, are global issues.
Speaking about the dispute between Palestine and Israel, Haiat said that no one in the world wants to see an end to the conflict between the two countries more than the Israeli government and citizens.
"That is our most important goal and we are working hard to achieve it. Unfortunately, the Palestinian leadership has not done enough to achieve peace, and the first thing to do is to negotiate peace. The Abrahamic Agreement created a reality in which there are two sides. The one who wants peace and the one who wants conflict. Palestinians should decide which side they want to be on," Haiat said.
In the relations between Israelis and Palestinians, he says, there are many problems that need to be solved and he thinks that solutions should not be presented to the media, but they need to talk directly with the Palestinians.
He notes that Israel has tried to do this several times before, but every time an agreement was reached, the Palestinians' answer was "no" until they did not want to talk anymore.
There are solutions, they can be realized, but only through direct negotiations and talks between both sides, concluded the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Lior Haiat.
He called on all countries in the region to start a dialogue with Israel because only peace allows a new reality to be built in the Middle East that will bring prosperity, security and stability to all peoples in the region. It is not a compromise, but the most important decision that can be made, says Haiat.
(FENA) L. N.
