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Inaugurating embassy in UAE, Israel tells region: “We’re here to stay”

Published

5 years ago

June 29, 2021

Reuters

Israel’s new foreign minister inaugurated its embassy in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and offered an olive branch to other former adversaries, saying: “We’re here to stay.”

Yair Lapid’s two-day visit is the first to the Gulf state by an Israeli cabinet minister since the countries established ties last year. He was due to sign a bilateral agreement on economic cooperation and open an Israeli consulate in Dubai on Wednesday.

The trip is also an opportunity for the two-week-old Israeli government of Naftali Bennett, a nationalist who heads an improbable cross-partisan coalition, to make diplomatic inroads despite long-stymied talks with the Palestinians.

“Israel wants peace with its neighbours – with all its neighbours. We aren’t going anywhere. The Middle East is our home,” Lapid said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Abu Dhabi high-rise office serving as a temporary embassy.

“We’re here to stay. We call on all the countries of the region to recognise that and to come to talk to us,” he said.

Brought together by shared worries about Iran and hopes for commercial boons, the UAE and Bahrain normalised relations with Israel last year under so-called “Abraham Accords” crafted by the administration of then U.S.-President Donald Trump. Sudan and Morocco have since also moved to establish ties with Israel.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, welcoming Lapid’s visit, said Washington “will continue to work with Israel and the UAE as we strengthen all aspects of our partnerships and work to create a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous future for all the peoples of the Middle East”, the State Department said.

The regional rapprochement was deplored by the Palestinians, who want their demands for statehood free of Israeli occupation addressed first.

President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the accords as “an illusion” and asserted that colonial powers had “implant(ed) Israel as a foreign body in this region in order to fragment it and keep it weak,” according to a report on Tuesday by the official Palestinian news service WAFA.

Tuesday’s agreement will be the 12th between Israel and the UAE, Lior Haiat, spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said. Lapid is also set to visit the site of Expo 2020 Dubai, a world fair opening in October where Israel has built a pavilion.

Lapid’s plane transited through Saudi airspace. Riyadh, although not having normalised relations with Israel, last year opened its skies to Israel-UAE flights.

The UAE formally opened its embassy in Israel, temporarily located in the Tel Aviv stock exchange, this month.

Israel’s Abu Dhabi embassy still has only three diplomats and a head of mission, Eitan Na’eh, who has yet to be confirmed as full ambassador. The consulate in Dubai is similarly located in temporary premises.

Lapid was conciliatory toward former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose attempts to organise a trip to the UAE while in office were scotched by COVID-19 restrictions and who has sought to cast his ouster by Bennett as illegitimate.

Thanking Netanyahu as “the architect of the Abraham Accords”, Lapid said: “This moment is his, no less than it is ours.”

Latest News

UNAMA calls for greater transparency and accountability in Afghanistan’s security institutions

The report also says fear of reprisals, a lack of trust in authorities and barriers to accessing institutions discourage people from reporting alleged misconduct.

Published

11 hours ago

August 10, 2026

Ariana News

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to strengthen transparency, oversight and accountability within the country’s security institutions.

In a new 38-page report, UNAMA examines measures taken by the IEA since August 2021 to oversee security institutions and address misconduct by security personnel.

The report says the authorities have taken some steps to promote discipline and oversight, including issuing directives, establishing internal monitoring units and creating new bodies tasked with addressing misconduct by security personnel.

However, UNAMA says these measures have not been accompanied by sufficient public information about complaints, investigations and disciplinary or judicial actions.

The report identifies several bodies responsible for oversight, including the Security and Filtration Commission, the High Directorate of Supervision and Monitoring of Decrees and Edicts, the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Commission for Hearing Complaints, and the Supreme Court.

“The limited amount of public information on complaints received, investigations conducted, and disciplinary or judicial actions taken by relevant de facto bodies undermine confidence and weaken deterrence,” said Georgette Gagnon, UNAMA’s Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Officer-in-Charge.

UNAMA documented cases in which IEA authorities arrested and investigated security personnel accused of misconduct and referred some cases to military courts. However, the mission said many complaints reportedly remain unresolved.

The report also says fear of reprisals, a lack of trust in authorities and barriers to accessing institutions discourage people from reporting alleged misconduct. Women, in particular, face additional obstacles because of restrictions affecting their daily lives, UNAMA said.

UNAMA has recommended that the IEA authorities establish and consistently enforce clear rules and codes of conduct for security personnel, in line with international standards. It also called for clearer regulations governing the use of force, arrests, detention, searches and crowd control.

The UN mission further urged the authorities to establish safe, accessible and inclusive complaint mechanisms that allow people to report misconduct without fear of retaliation or discrimination, while protecting victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.

UNAMA also called for regular public reporting on complaints, investigations and disciplinary or judicial measures, as well as stronger systems for collecting and maintaining data on misconduct.

According to the report, greater transparency and consistent accountability could improve professionalism, strengthen public trust in security institutions and contribute to better governance, respect for human rights and Afghanistan’s engagement with the international community.

Latest News

MoU on TAPI gas purchase signed between Afghan Gas and Türkmengaz

Published

13 hours ago

August 10, 2026

Ariana News

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs has announced that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the purchase of gas under the TAPI project was signed on Monday in Torghundi, Herat province, between the state-owned Afghan Gas Company and

Turkmenistan’s Türkmengaz Company, in the presence of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the National Leader of Turkmenistan.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, the MoU will determine the price of gas, the required volume of gas, and the gas distribution process.

Latest News

Baradar discusses TAPI progress with Turkmenistan’s national leader

Published

14 hours ago

August 10, 2026

Ariana News

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, during his visit to Herat province, met with Turkmenistan’s National Leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, in Torghundi on Monday to discuss the latest progress on the TAPI project and future economic cooperation between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

According to a statement from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Baradar said during the meeting that work on the TAPI project in Herat is progressing well and that the remaining work is expected to be completed within the scheduled timeframe.

Baradar urged the Turkmen side to reach an agreement on the price of gas and called for the gas pricing formula to be adjusted in a way that would prevent sharp fluctuations in European markets from affecting gas prices.

He also proposed that the gas agreement be concluded for a long-term period, with simple terms and a flexible mechanism for reviewing the contract.

Baradar called for Turkmenistan’s cooperation in constructing a gas distribution and consumption network in Herat, establishing a joint technical and legal commission to address the remaining issues related to the TAPI project, and making joint efforts to create more job opportunities for Afghans through the project.

He said the TAPI project has strengthened strategic cooperation between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan and stressed the need for the two sides to work together to expand trade by reopening the Aqina border crossing for oil transit, facilitating Afghan transit goods at the Turkmenbashi port, resolving existing obstacles to the reactivation of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, and rebuilding and expanding the Herat–Torghundi railway.

Baradar also called on Turkmenistan to support major economic projects in Afghanistan in the electricity and transport sectors.

During the meeting, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said relations between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have been strengthened on the basis of goodwill and good-neighborly relations, creating opportunities for cooperation in various fields.

Berd Berdimuhamedov added that Turkmenistan is ready to cooperate not only on extending the TAPI pipeline to Herat, but also on constructing a gas distribution network in the province and launching practical work on the TAP project. He said a number of foreign companies have expressed readiness to invest in the TAP project.

He further said Ashgabat is ready to provide all necessary facilities at Turkmenbashi port for Afghan transit and commercial goods.

He also stressed the need for joint efforts to reactivate the Lapis Lazuli Corridor to boost trade between the two countries and the wider region.

He assured the Afghan side that work on projects already launched in Afghanistan’s electricity and railway sectors would be completed on schedule and at an accelerated pace.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides agreed to establish a technical committee led by senior officials to follow up on and implement the TAPI, TAP, fiber-optic and railway projects and ensure that work on these projects progresses more effectively.