This week, the Britain-Israel Peers Group hosted an historic dialogue with HE Mansoor Abulhoul, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Chaired by Labour Peer Lord Turnberg, the cross-party network of Peers enthusiastically commended the Ambassador on his country’s leadership in normalising relations with Israel.
In a warm and wide-ranging discussion, two dozen attending Peers and several MPs queried the Ambassador on the many new agreements with Israel stemming from the ‘warm peace’ established by the Abraham Accords, the prospects for re-establishing a dialogue between Israel and Palestine as well as challenges to the region posed by malign actors.
“We believe this is an exciting time for the UAE, Israel and the region,” said Ambassador Abulhoul, “The commitment to a warm peace from the outset is already generating a range of substantive outcomes in trade, tourism and research. The UAE’s long-standing commitment to interfaith dialogue underpins our desire for normalisation to lead to a robust peace that is shared by both countries at the societal level.”
Lord Turnberg noted, “The UAE’s newly formalised relationship with Israel should be seen as a step toward a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The UK government, along with its allies in the Middle East, should build on this momentum by proactively working to re-establish dialogue between the two parties”.
