Israeli and United Arab Emirates (UAE) ministers agreed Sunday to initiate a student exchange program, according to a press release from Israel's Education Ministry.
The student exchange program comes following a normalization agreement between the two countries, leading to cooperation in a wide variety of areas of mutual interest. Education Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with his UAE counterpart Hussein Ibrahim al-Hamadi via Zoom, where both spoke of the importance of education, its connection to sustainability, the environment and research on astrophysics and the sea.
The UAE also announced Sunday the establishment of an embassy in Tel Aviv. Gallant extended an invitation to al-Hamadi to visit the Tel Aviv embassy upon its opening in an official visit, with the latter also inviting Gallant in turn to the UAE.
"The United Arab Emirates has joined a number of Arab countries that have recently signed peace agreements with the State of Israel, recognizing its importance and power. This is thanks to the policy of the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who initiated and promoted historic peace agreements with Arab countries," Gallant said.
"I spoke today with UAE's Education Minister Hussein Ibrahim al-Hamadi, and heard from him about the way his country is dealing with the operation of the education system amid the coronavirus. I am pleased that Minister al-Hamadi accepted my proposal to promote a student exchange program between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in order to promote educational and social familiarization of students from both countries," Gallant added.