UAE separates Palestinian issue from ties with Israel

While agreeing to disagree on the Palestinians and unilateral annexation, UAE Minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash sees no reason to refrain from increased cooperation with Israel. He told a US-Jewish online conference on Tuesday night that decades of Arab boycott of Israel had not yielded the desired results. “Can I have a political disagreement with Israel but at the same time try and bridge other areas of relationship?” he asked and answered. “I think I can. I think that is fundamentally where we are,” said the UAE official, commending “open lines of communication and liaison with Jerusalem in such areas as technology and health.”