Israel–United Arab Emirates Normalization Agreement

Informal contacts between Israel and the United Arab Emirates dated to the 1990s, well before the countries announced full normalization in 2020.[5] Intelligence, security, and trade cooperation became closer and more public during the decade preceding the agreement, partly against a background of shared concern about Iran’s regional influence.[5] These contacts developed during a period when the UAE did not officially recognize Israel and retained legislation restricting commercial dealings with it.[6] The diplomatic breakthrough therefore followed an extended period of practical engagement rather than the complete absence of bilateral ties.[5]

An Israeli office opened in Abu Dhabi in 2015 to facilitate Israel’s participation in the International Renewable Energy Agency.[5] Its purpose was connected principally to that international organization, rather than to the establishment of full bilateral diplomatic relations.[6] Other contacts remained less visible: a secret trilateral meeting involving the United States, Israel, and the UAE took place in December 2019 concerning coordination against Iran.[6] Benjamin Netanyahu also reportedly met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed during a secret visit in 2018.[6]

Public sporting and international exhibition activities supplied additional signs of warming relations before normalization.[6] An Israeli cycling team participated in the UAE Tour in February 2020, and Israel planned to participate in Expo 2020 in Dubai.[6] These activities accompanied the quieter security and diplomatic contacts that had developed over preceding years.[5][6] The emerging relationship thus included commercial, institutional, and public-facing connections before the countries committed themselves to reciprocal embassies and a comprehensive treaty.[5][6]

The immediate diplomatic setting also included the Trump administration’s proposed “Vision for Peace,” presented on January 28, 2020.[1] Before the normalization announcement, UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba publicly opposed Israel’s proposed application of sovereignty in parts of the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — in an Israeli newspaper article headlined “It’s Either Annexation or Normalization.”[6] The eventual August announcement connected the opening of full relations with a suspension of Israel’s planned declaration of sovereignty over areas outlined in the American proposal.[7]

On August 13, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mohammed bin Zayed, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE, announced that Israel and the UAE had agreed to full normalization.[7] The agreement was reached through a telephone call involving the three leaders.[6] American officials identified Jared Kushner, David Friedman, Avi Berkowitz, Mike Pompeo, and Robert O’Brien as brokers of the deal.[6]

The joint statement outlined negotiations between bilateral delegations on investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, and reciprocal embassies.[7] These were prospective agreements to be developed following the announcement, rather than a declaration that every practical arrangement was already operating.[7] The statement also called for the immediate expansion of cooperation on coronavirus treatment and vaccine development, linking the diplomatic opening to an existing area of health collaboration.[7]

At Trump’s request and with UAE support, Israel agreed to “suspend declaring sovereignty” over areas identified in the Vision for Peace and to concentrate on expanding ties with other Arab and Muslim countries.[7] The same statement proposed a Strategic Agenda for the Middle East involving the United States, Israel, and the UAE, intended to expand diplomatic, trade, and security cooperation.[7] It also stated that Muslims coming in peace could visit and pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, and that Jerusalem’s other holy sites should remain open to peaceful worshippers of all faiths.[7]

A significant legal step followed on August 29, 2020, when the UAE abolished its legislation enforcing the boycott of Israel.[2][8] Federal Decree-Law No. 4 repealed Federal Law No. 15 of 1972, which had restricted Emirati companies from trading with Israeli companies, importing or exporting Israeli goods, and conducting certain other operations involving Israel.[2] The new decree-law allowed Emirati citizens and corporations to enter commercial, financial, and trade agreements with Israeli counterparts and permitted citizens of both countries to visit one another’s countries.[2]

The formal instrument, titled the “Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel,” was signed in Washington, D.C., on September 15, 2020.[1] Netanyahu signed for Israel and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed for the Emirates, with Trump serving as witness.[9] The ceremony also included a separate Israeli-Bahraini declaration of peace; the UAE-Israel document was a bilateral treaty.[10]

The treaty was concluded in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, with all three texts designated equally authentic.[1] It nevertheless stipulated that the English text would prevail if interpretations diverged.[1] Its preamble reaffirmed the August 13 joint statement and framed the agreement as establishing diplomatic and friendly relations, cooperation, and full normalization between both the states and their peoples.[1]

Israel’s Cabinet approved the agreement unanimously on October 12, 2020.[3] The Knesset followed on October 15 with an approval vote of 80 to 13.[3] The treaty itself required ratification under each country’s national procedures and provided that it would enter into force following an exchange of instruments of ratification.[1] Its legal framework therefore distinguished the public announcement, the signing of the instrument, and the procedures necessary for its entry into force.[1]

Article 1 declared that “Peace, diplomatic relations and full normalization of bilateral ties are hereby established” between the UAE and Israel.[1] Article 2 placed the relationship within the framework of the United Nations Charter and international law, committing each country to recognize and respect the other’s sovereignty and right to live in peace and security.[1] It also required the development of friendly relations and cooperation and the settlement of disputes through peaceful means.[1]

Under Article 3, the parties were to exchange resident ambassadors as soon as practicable after signing.[1] Diplomatic and consular relations were to operate under applicable international law.[1] These provisions established the framework for an ongoing official presence in each country, alongside the treaty’s wider arrangements for travel, commerce, and exchanges between their societies.[1] Consular services and visa arrangements were also identified as subjects for further bilateral agreements.[1]

Article 4 made mutual understanding, cooperation, and coordination on peace and stability pillars of the relationship.[1] Each party undertook to take necessary steps to prevent terrorist or hostile activities against the other on or from its territory, deny support for such activities abroad, and prevent such support from its own territory.[1] The treaty called for regular discussions of these matters and the development of detailed arrangements for coordination and cooperation.[1] It presented this security relationship as contributing both to bilateral peace and to stability across the wider Middle East.[1]

The instrument also established procedures for handling disagreements over its own application or interpretation.[1] Negotiation was the first means of resolving such disputes.[1] If negotiation did not produce a settlement, the parties could refer the matter to conciliation or arbitration, but only with their mutual agreement.[1] The dispute-settlement provision thus specified peaceful legal and diplomatic mechanisms without making referral to either alternative automatic.[1]

Article 5 called for bilateral agreements “at the earliest practicable date” across an extensive range of civilian fields.[1] These included finance and investment; innovation, trade, and economic relations; civil aviation; visas and consular services; healthcare; science and technology; and the peaceful uses of outer space.[1] Tourism, culture, sport, education, energy, environmental protection, maritime arrangements, telecommunications and postal services, agriculture and food security, water, and legal cooperation were also included.[1] The article allowed the countries to agree on additional fields of mutual interest.[1]

An annex forming an integral part of the treaty supplied more specific principles for implementing this agenda.[1] For aviation, it envisaged regular direct passenger and cargo flights, the necessary supporting aviation arrangements, and work toward an international air corridor.[1] Tourism cooperation included promotion and reciprocal study tours, while proposed visa and consular arrangements were intended to facilitate secure travel by the nationals of both countries.[1] The commercial provisions included cooperation to reduce trade barriers and strengthen economic relations.[1]

Healthcare cooperation built on existing work concerning COVID-19 treatment and vaccine development.[1] The annex identified medical education, digital health, and emergency preparedness as further areas for collaboration.[1] Scientific and technological cooperation included exchanges of knowledge and possible joint research and development centers, alongside collaboration in peaceful space programs.[1] Telecommunications cooperation extended to technologies including 5G, while education and scientific exchanges also appeared within the treaty’s broader program of social engagement.[1]

Agriculture, water, energy, and environmental provisions addressed practical fields of shared relevance to arid environments.[1] The annex identified arid agriculture, irrigation, food security, water management, treatment, reuse, conservation, and desalination as potential areas of joint work.[1] It also described cooperation involving renewable energy, climate change, environmental protection, and marine environments.[1] Maritime access and legal assistance in civil and commercial matters supplied further elements of the practical framework for relations.[1]

Article 6 addressed relations between the societies as well as between their governments.[1] It called for mutual understanding, respect, coexistence, and a culture of peace through people-to-people programs, interfaith dialogue, and cultural, academic, youth, and scientific exchanges.[1] The parties committed themselves to cooperation against extremism, terrorism, radicalization, recruitment, incitement, and discrimination, and agreed to work toward a High-Level Joint Forum for Peace and Co-Existence.[1] These provisions placed social and religious engagement alongside the treaty’s diplomatic, security, and economic commitments.[1]

Article 7 stated that the countries were ready to join the United States in developing a “Strategic Agenda for the Middle East.”[1] The proposed agenda covered expanded regional diplomacy and trade, security and stability, economic opportunities, a culture of peace, and possible joint aid and development programs.[1] The treaty also called for advancing peace, stability, and prosperity and unlocking economic potential in the region.[1] Its cooperation framework therefore extended beyond bilateral projects to prospective regional initiatives involving the United States.[1]

The countries announced a mutual visa-exemption agreement in October 2020, and direct commercial flights began in November.[11] An October 20 ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport was organized for agreements covering reciprocal visa waivers, aviation, investment protection, and technology.[12] The visa-waiver arrangement was the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab country; Israelis still needed visas for entry to Egypt and Jordan at the time.[12] These measures supplied practical travel and commercial arrangements alongside the overarching normalization treaty.[11][12]

The October aviation agreement provided for up to 112 weekly flight slots on routes between Tel Aviv and the UAE.[13] This allocation was distinct from 28 weekly flights attributed to the combined Etihad Airways service between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi and Emirates service between Tel Aviv and Dubai.[13] The larger allocation could also accommodate Israeli carriers, other UAE airlines, and low-cost operators.[13] It represented an agreed capacity framework rather than a statement that all 112 slots were already being used.[13]

The repeal of the Emirati boycott removed legal barriers to regular relations, including openly conducted commercial passenger flights.[8] Earlier enforcement of the boycott had not prevented bilateral trade from increasing during the period of quieter engagement.[8] Its abolition nevertheless expressly permitted commercial, financial, import, and export dealings that the previous legislation had restricted.[2] The legal change thus accompanied the transition from discreet contacts to publicly recognized commercial relations.[2][8]

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid inaugurated Israel’s embassy in Abu Dhabi on June 29, 2021.[14] During the visit he met the UAE foreign minister, and the embassy became Israel’s first in the Gulf.[8] In his inauguration speech, Lapid urged other regional countries to join the peace moves and credited former prime minister Netanyahu as an architect of the Abraham Accords.[14] In December 2021, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett became the first Israeli leader to visit the UAE.[8]

Economic relations developed further through a free trade agreement that entered into force on April 1, 2023.[4] It was the first agreement of its kind between Israel and an Arab state.[4] The arrangement introduced reciprocal tariff reductions and facilitated trade involving services, standards, intellectual property, and government procurement.[4] Bilateral trade increased from approximately $200 million in 2020 to more than $3 billion in 2024, with diamonds included in the figures.[4] These developments extended the initial treaty’s economic provisions into a more detailed commercial framework.[1][4]

The UAE’s establishment of full diplomatic relations made it the first Gulf state and the third Arab country to take that step.[2][3] The agreement brought a relationship developed through years of low-profile contacts into an open diplomatic framework.[15] Its history differed from a strategic reversal between former wartime adversaries: the treaty publicly formalized links that had been developing over decades.[15] Its stated ambition of full normalization also emphasized broad civilian cooperation, extending beyond the more limited character of Israel’s relations with Egypt and Jordan at the time of a contemporaneous assessment.[15]

The treaty’s preamble connected the Arab and Jewish peoples through the statement that they “are descendants of a common ancestor, Abraham.”[1] It linked that shared ancestry to aspirations for coexistence, mutual understanding, and mutual respect among Muslims, Jews, Christians, and people of other faiths and nationalities.[1] The broader Abraham Accords declaration likewise endorsed mutual understanding, coexistence, human dignity, religious freedom, and interfaith and intercultural dialogue.[16] Cooperation in science, art, medicine, and commerce formed part of that declaration’s stated vision.[16]

Within this framework, the bilateral agreement combined formal recognition with an unusually wide list of planned practical relationships: commercial aviation, tourism, research, medicine, water, agriculture, energy, and cultural exchange.[1] Its annex translated the general commitment to normalization into proposed sector-specific activities.[1] Later travel and embassy arrangements implemented important parts of that agenda.[11][8] The free trade agreement extended the economic provisions into a more detailed commercial framework and accompanied measurable trade growth.[4] The resulting relationship combined diplomatic institutions and commercial expansion with the treaty’s commitments to security and coexistence.[1][8]

The preamble also recalled Trump’s January 2020 Vision for Peace and endorsed continuing efforts toward a “just, comprehensive, realistic and enduring solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[1] It referred to a negotiated solution meeting the legitimate needs and aspirations of both peoples and recalled the Israel-Egypt and Israel-Jordan peace treaties.[9] The bilateral normalization provisions operated alongside these statements of regional aspiration, rather than making the establishment of relations conditional on a prior Israeli-Palestinian agreement.[1]

The duration and meaning of the sovereignty suspension generated differing political characterizations.[5] Emirati officials presented it as stopping annexation and preserving prospects for Palestinian statehood, while Netanyahu described it as temporary and maintained that applying sovereignty remained on his agenda pending American approval.[5][6] Jared Kushner said the United States did not plan to consent “for some time.”[5] The signed treaty contained neither an annexation clause nor an express commitment to a two-state solution.[17]

Palestinian leaders denounced the agreement, withdrew their ambassador from the UAE, and argued that bargaining over annexation threats legitimized them.[5] Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the agreement as a blow to the Arab Peace Initiative and Palestinian rights; Palestinian leaders sought urgent Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation meetings.[18] The dispute concerned whether Arab normalization should precede an agreed Israeli-Palestinian settlement, departing from the conditional approach associated with the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.[5] All 13 Knesset votes against approval came from the Joint Arab List, whose members opposed Arab peace agreements before Palestinian statehood.[3] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also attacked the move, saying the UAE had made itself “a legitimate target for the resistance.”[5]

A potential American sale of F-35 aircraft and armed drones became a related but distinct controversy.[8] In November 2020, the Trump administration notified Congress of a proposed $23 billion sale including those systems, subsequently subject to review and delay.[8] Netanyahu denied a quid pro quo, while Israeli officials, congressional members, and analysts raised concerns about Israel’s qualitative military edge.[6] The sale was not a treaty term.[8] In an interpretive commentary, Yossi Kuperwasser argued that advanced weapons and deferral of sovereignty encouraged the UAE, while also arguing that the sovereignty move had already become impractical without American support.[19]