As any student of the Bible will tell you, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. It is traditionally believed that today’s Arab nations are of Ishmaelite descent, while the sovereign Jewish State of Israel traces its line back to Isaac. How appropriate, then, that the agreement signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on 13 August 2020, establishing full diplomatic relations between the two nations, should be known as the Abraham Accord.
Pursuant to the Accord, Israel and the United Arab Emirates will fully normalise their diplomatic relations. It is expected that they will exchange embassies and ambassadors, and begin co-operation in such areas as tourism, education, healthcare, trade and security.
At exactly 11:21 this morning (31 August), an El Al Boeing 737-900 took off from Tel Aviv en route to Abu Dhabi, for the first-ever direct commercial flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates. By way of a further historic milestone, Flight 971 (allocated such number by way of a nod to the international dialling code for the UAE) received approval to cross Saudi Arabia’s airspace, a first for an Israeli aircraft.
It is hoped that the Accord will have significant economic benefits, and create many commercial opportunities. We believe that the following fields could be of significant potential in this regard:
· High-tech (with an emphasis on cyber, fintech, biotech, biomed, agritech and e-commerce);
· Security, in all its aspects (including advanced weapon systems, UAVs, defence systems and more);
· Investment funds;
· Cloud communications and data communications;
· Digital insurance/insuretech;
· Infrastructure;
· Solar energy;
· The diamond industry;
· Advanced food industries;
· Desert agriculture, irrigation and use of water resources.
