Israel seeks peace with the Middle East, says Yair Lapid in Abu Dhabi

Israeli official's arrival in the UAE is the first ministerial visit since the two states established ties last year

Emirati officials welcome Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid upon his arrival at Abu Dhabi airport on Tuesday. Mr Lapid was making the first official trip by an Israeli minister to the UAE after the two countries normalised ties last year. AFP

Emirati officials welcome Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid upon his arrival at Abu Dhabi airport on Tuesday. Mr Lapid was making the first official trip by an Israeli minister to the UAE after the two countries normalised ties last year. AFP

Emirati officials welcome Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid upon his arrival at Abu Dhabi airport on Tuesday. Mr Lapid was making the first official trip by an Israeli minister to the UAE after the two countries normalised ties last year. AFP

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid meets Minister of State Ahmed Al Sayegh in the UAE. It was the first official visit by an Israeli minister to the country. IsraelintheGulf via Twitter

Minister of State Ahmed Al Sayegh receives Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Abu Dhabi. AFP

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, left, and Israeli Foreign Ministry director general Eitan Na'eh during the inauguration of the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhab. AFP

Left to right, Rabbi Levi Duchman, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Minister of Culture and Youth Noura Al Kaabi, and Israeli Foreign Ministry director general, Eitan Na'eh during the inauguration of the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi. AFP

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid delivering a speech during the inauguration of the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi. AFP

Minister of Culture and Youth Noura Al Kaabi and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid during the inauguration of the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi. AFP

Minister of Culture and Youth Noura Al Kaabi and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid during the inauguration of the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi. Reuters

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid applauds as a plaque is unveiled during an inauguration ceremony of Israel's embassy in Abu Dhabi. Reuters

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid helps to affix a mezuzah, a ritual scroll fastened to the doorways of Jewish homes, during an inauguration ceremony at Israel's embassy in Abu Dhabi. Reuters

Israel wants peace with its neighbours in the region, Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday as he opened the country's embassy in Abu Dhabi during the first official visit by a senior minister since relations were established last year with the UAE.

"We are standing here today because we chose peace over war," Mr Lapid said during the opening ceremony with Minister of Youth and Culture Noura Al Kaabi.

"Israel wants peace with its neighbours, with all its neighbours – we aren't going anywhere. The Middle East is our home, we're here to stay,” he said.

“We call on all the countries of the region to recognise that. And to come talk to us.”

He reiterated that the visit and agreements already made were just the beginning of relations between Israel and the UAE.

Israel's embassy is currently housed in a temporary location and has just three diplomats. However, Lior Haiat, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said they were "planning for it to be a big one, an important one".

Mr Lapid's visit comes nine months after the UAE and Bahrain moved to normalise relations with Israel with the signing of the historic Abraham Accord at a White House ceremony with then-president Donald Trump and then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As well as the UAE and Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco have also begun normalising relations with Israel.

Over the past nine months, nearly 200,000 Israelis have visited the UAE and 12 agreements have been signed, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The new Israeli foreign minister and alternate prime minister tweeted a photo of himself on the El Al flight to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday morning.

"Making history: proud to represent the State of Israel on its first official visit to the United Arab Emirates," Mr Lapid tweeted in Hebrew and Arabic. "Thanks for the warm welcome."

He was then welcomed on Tuesday morning at Abu Dhabi airport by Minister of State Ahmed Al Sayegh with a short ceremony before he travelled to the new Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi for the inauguration ceremony.

Mr Lapid, a centrist, is credited as the mastermind behind a coalition that this month unseated veteran right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu after more than a decade in office.

His two-day visit to the UAE will end on Wednesday after he visits Expo 2020 Dubai, a world fair that will begin in October and where Israel has a pavilion.

Following the visit, he will inaugurate the Israeli consulate in Dubai.

Mr Lapid met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome earlier this week. While in the Italian capital, he met Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani.