Israel: Amir Hayek was appointed as Israel’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday just as a major agreement about a crude oil pipeline through Israel to Europe was temporarily frozen on environmental grounds, the Foreign Minister Yair Lapid here said.
According to reports, Yair Lapid said that he has chosen Amir Hayek, an economist and former director of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment, to take the job. "Haik has rich experience and knowledge in the fields of economics and tourism," Lapid said, adding that he is "the right man to establish the bridge between Israel and the UAE". Hayek replaces Eitan Na'eh, who had been the acting envoy.
The appointment came after Israel opened its embassy in Abu Dhabi in June and the UAE opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in July. Israel and the UAE signed the US-brokered normalisation deal in September 2020.
Israel and the UAE normalized ties only last year under the rubric of the Abraham Accords, which were brokered by former US President Donald Trump. In it, there was a particularly strong emphasis on the economic benefits to both countries.
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