UAE, Israel agree on bilateral visa-free travel

The UAE and Israel have announced plans to introduce reciprocal visa-free travel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

His remarks came after the first official UAE ministerial delegation landed in Israel, following the signing of the peace deal between the two countries earlier this year.

“We are exempting our nationals from visas,” Netanyahu said.

Emirati citizens will become the first in the Arab world to not require Israeli entry visas.

“Today we are making history in a way that will stand for generations,” Netanyahu said at the ceremony. “We will remember this day, a glorious day of peace.”

Earlier this week, Israel and the UAE agreed on a deal to allow for 28 direct weekly passenger flights connecting Tel Aviv with Abu Dhabi and Dubai, according to a recent statement from Israel’s Transportation Ministry.

Read: Direct flights between UAE and Israel to begin “within weeks”

Tourism is one of the main sectors expected to benefit from the signing of the Abraham Accords.

Speaking to Gulf Business earlier this month, Fleur Hassan Nahoum, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem and the co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council stressed that the both sides are focused on developing strong tourism ties.

“Tourism is something very important to Israelis and Emiratis. We can now travel on holiday to a location that is just two-three hours away – in our own region – for the first time really,” she said.

“We are also looking forward to receiving a new type of tourism – to Jerusalem in particular – which is Muslim pilgrims coming to pray in Haram Al Sharif. So the tourism ties are very significant and can bring a lot of accompanying benefit from it,” she added.

Watch the entire interview here: