Israel and UAE leaders discuss economic ties in historic trip

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett discussed deepening business cooperation with the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates and the head of one of its biggest wealth funds, as the two countries seek to build on ties fostered in part by a suspicion of Iran’s nuclear program. 

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, hosted Bennett in the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister, and the two met one-on-one for over two hours on Monday, according to the prime minister’s spokeswoman. That was followed up by a meeting with the chief executive officer of the Mubadala Investment Company, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak.

Health and food security “will constitute a major part of the mutual cooperation,” Bennett told the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency. Cross-border trade has steadily grown, capped off by Mubadala’s recent $1 billion purchase of a stake in Israel’s second-biggest natural-gas field.

While Israel and the UAE have sought ways to improve defense and economic relations since signing a U.S.-brokered agreement to normalize diplomatic ties, they’ve differed in their approaches to ongoing negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.