We are talking about what we can do to bring tourism to Israel,” said Ksenia Kobiakov, director of new markets development at the Israeli Tourism Ministry. The presence of Israel at the travel and tourism event in Dubai highlights the United Arab Emirates’ business-first approach and demonstrates how rapidly ties with Israel have developed since the UAE and Israel signed an accord to formalize ties in September. Israeli tourism officials say the minister’s visit was never approved by the prime minister and the cancellation had nothing to do with the current fighting. There was no discussion of the current flare-up in violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Violence around the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem drew rare rebuke of Israel by both countries, which signed accords recognizing Israel last year.

Source: Egypt Independent May 16, 2021 17:15 UTC