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The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) today warmly welcomed the establishment of full diplomatic relations, including the exchange of embassies, economic exchanges, direct flights, tourism and other forms of normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, announced overnight.

AIJAC National Chairman Mark Leibler AC, said, “Full relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates represents a historic breakthrough, signifying a change to the anomalous and unproductive paradigm that, for more than 70 years, saw Israel and its Arab regional neighbours only as enemies. As Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when announcing the breakthrough, it represents a wider change in the region, where today, many states have come to see Israel not as an enemy, but as ‘a strategic ally for stability, for security, for advancement and also for peace.’”

AIJAC Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein AM added, “We are particularly hopeful that, as Israeli PM Netanyahu predicted, this move will lead other nations, particularly in the Persian Gulf, to soon follow suit. The potential advantages and opportunities, not only for the states involved, but for the whole region, of full and free relations with Israel, are both great and obvious.”

“AIJAC is grateful to the many diplomats, political leaders and officials in Washington, Jerusalem, and Abu Dhabi whose enlightened and energetic efforts made this historic breakthrough possible,” Dr. Rubenstein concluded.