Israel’s new foreign minister will head to the United Arab Emirates next week for the first-ever visit by a top Israeli diplomat to the Gulf country, the ministry said Monday.

 

 

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s visit comes after the two countries normalized relations last year in an agreement brokered by the Trump administration, the first of four similar deals with Arab states.

 

 

Both Israel's new government and the Biden administration have said they hope to reach similar accords with other Arab states.

 

 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Lapid will visit the UAE on June 29-30, and will inaugurate an Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai.

 

 

Lapid was the driving force behind a new Israeli government sworn in just over a week ago that ended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's record 12-year rule. Netanyahu had held up the agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco as among his biggest achievements.