DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has scrapped an economic boycott against Israel, allowing trade and financial agreements between the countries in another major step towards normalisation of ties.
The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency said the move formally ending the boycott was made on the orders of UAE’s leader, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
A US-brokered deal to normalise relations between Israel and the UAE was announced on August 13. It required Israel to halt its controversial plan to annex occupied West Bank land which belongs to Palestinians.
WAM said the new decree allows Israelis and Israeli companies to do business in the UAE, a federation of seven emirates. It also allows for the purchase and trade of Israeli goods.
“The decree of the new law comes within the UAE’s efforts to expand diplomatic and commercial cooperation with Israel,” WAM said.
It lays out “a roadmap toward launching joint cooperation, leading to bilateral relations by stimulating economic growth and promoting technological innovation”.
On Monday, the first direct commercial flight by Israel’s flagship carrier El Al is expected in Abu Dhabi, carrying US and Israeli officials including President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Saturday’s announcement formally eliminates a 1972 law on the UAE’s books, since just after the Emirates’s formation.