UAE targets $1 trillion in economic relations with Israel

By Muhammad Khabisa

ANKARA (AA) – The United Arab Emirates is eyeing economic relations with Israel of over a trillion dollars over the next decade.

“We have $600 to $700 million of bilateral trade happening, we have funds of billions of dollars that have been announced jointly between the two countries, we are moving into so many areas of economic opportunities,” UAE Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq said in a virtual conference held by the Washington-based American Atlantic Council.

He said the target is “to create over $1 trillion of economic activity over the next decade.”

The announcement came as the Gulf state and Israel mark the first anniversary since they normalized relations last year.

The UAE was joined by three other Arab states – Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan – in controversially normalizing relations with Israel, in what came to be known as the Abraham Accords.

Palestinians said the moves amounted to a “stab in the back,” as they betrayed the Palestinian people.

Bin Touq added that since the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel, more than 60 memorandums of understanding have been signed.

He hailed the Abraham Accords for providing a platform for making exceptional and rapid achievements in boosting economic activity between the UAE and Israel.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara