Even before El Al flight 971 made its historic landing in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 31, ministers from the Blue and White Party had a series of warm phone calls with their UAE counterparts.
The first to make a call was Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. He spoke with the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed just a few days after news of the agreement was released. They agreed to maintain a direct line of contact in the days leading up to the signing of the normalization agreement and said that they would meet in person soon. The next day, Israelis and Emirates could place direct calls to each other.
On Aug. 30, Minister of Agriculture Alon Schuster spoke with his counterpart, the UAE’s Minister of Food and Water Security Mariam al-Muhairi. A statement from Schuster’s office said that he and Muhairi agreed to collaborate on projects pertaining to food and water security. They also agreed to open a direct line of communication between the two ministries and to work together on a plan for cooperation. Schuster said he found a very impressive partner with a series of well-conceived ideas about the environment, water and food security.
Their conversation took place after the UAE announced on Saturday that it was lifting its economic boycott of Israel, an indication of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed's commitment to achieving full normalization with Israel as quickly as possible.
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