Middle East News: UAE, Israeli Foreign Ministers Agree to Meet in Landmark Call - Bloomberg

Middle East News: UAE, Israeli Foreign Ministers Agree to Meet in Landmark Call - Bloomberg:

Israel and the United Arab Emirates took tangible steps toward normalizing ties on Sunday, with the Gulf emirate lifting its block on calls with the Jewish state and companies forming a cross-border joint venture to research the coronavirus. 

The landmark call took place between UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan and his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, who exchanged greetings and agreed to meet soon. Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel hailed the UAE move to unblock calls as a confidence-building prelude to economic opportunities for both countries.

The agreement to make peace announced Thursday set aside decades of enmity with promises to exchange ambassadors and open ties through air travel, tourism, investment, security and telecommunications. Israeli wireless operator Partner Communications said Sunday that it was in advanced talks to form a mutual roaming service agreement with Emirates Telecommunications Corp., the United Arab Emirates’ biggest telephone company known as Etisalat.

Israir Airlines Ltd. has started the process of applying for a landing permit in the UAE, Chief Executive officer Uri Sirkis said on Sunday.While the communications arena was being cracked open, UAE-based APEX National Investment agreed to conduct research on the coronavirus with Israel’s TeraGroup. Even before the diplomatic breakthrough, there were preliminary ties with Israeli hospitals on fighting the outbreak.