Amir Hayek was appointed as Israel’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday just as a major agreement about a crude oil pipeline through Israel to Europe was temporarily frozen on environmental grounds.
Hayek replaces Eitan Na'eh, who had been the acting envoy. Hayek is considered to be a political appointment.
Israel and the UAE normalized ties only last year under the rubric of the Abraham Accords, which were brokered by former US president Donald Trump. In it, there was a particularly strong emphasis on the economic benefits to both countries.
One of the cornerstone agreements was a deal by which the UAE would transport crude oil to Europe through the Israeli business Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC), a deal that could be worth more than $700 million.
The deal has included an understanding with MED-RED Land Bridge, an Abu Dhabi-based company with Israeli and Emirati owners.
The UAE would make use of an already existing pipeline that connects the city of Eilat on the Red Sea with Ashkelon along the southern Mediterranean coast, but would require an expansion of the facilities, including storage tankers.
On Sunday, the Environment Ministry rejected a risk assessment conducted by EAPC and froze the project pending a government hearing on the continuation of the plan.
Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg instructed her office to notify the company of the decision not to deal with any further documents relating to the plan until such a hearing was held.
Should the government agree to continue the deal, the ministry told EAPC, it would only accept documents and studies that met the requested professional standard.
The Foreign Ministry made no mention of the possible pending crisis with the UAE when it announced Hayek’s appointment.
Hayek “has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the fields of economics and tourism” and as such he “is the right man to institutionalize the bridge between Israel and the Emirates,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Sunday.
Lapid recalled that he had helped inaugurate the first-ever Israeli embassy in the Emirates in June. The UAE, in turn, opened its first-ever embassy in Tel Aviv.
“It was time to appoint the first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates,” Lapid said.
Hayek is the president of the Israel Hotel Association and has served as director-general of the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel. He has also served as director-general of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.
Reuters contributed to this report.