UAE cabinet approves setting up embassy in Tel Aviv

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
An Israeli flag, attached to a rock known as "Andromeda's Rock", flutters in the Mediterranean Sea as a Tel Aviv's skyline of high-rise buildings is seen in the background, in Jaffa, Israel

DUBAI/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates cabinet on Sunday approved the establishment of an embassy in Tel Aviv in Israel, state media said, and Israel announced its embassy had opened in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE and Israel agreed to normalise relations in August, a deal forged largely over shared fears of Iran.

Since then Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco have all agreed to establish ties with Israel in deals brokered in 2020 by the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump.

No further details were given about the UAE embassy to Israel.

Israel's government regards Jerusalem as its capital, although that is not recognised by most of the international community. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Most countries have their embassies in Tel Aviv.

A statement from the Israeli foreign ministry said Israel's embassy in Abu Dhabi officially opened on Sunday with the arrival of the country's envoy there, albeit in a temporary location until permanent premises are found.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Nick Macfie and David Evans)