Israel and United Arab Emirates to cooperate on COVID-19
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Israel and the United Arab Emirates are set to join forces in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jerusalem Post reports. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the partnership in a statement on Thursday, saying the decision to cooperate had come after months of intense negotiation.
Referring to the partnership with UAE, Netanyahu said “the Health Ministers of the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel will announce cooperation in the fight against coronavirus. This cooperation will be in research and technology development, in areas that will improve the health security of the entire region.”
Israeli Health Ministry Director Chezy Levy said the decision to cooperate on a scientific and medical level would bridge “historic political challenges in the region through the reality of the human priority to find a solution to the coronavirus,” the Jerusalem Post reported. Levy added: “In a reality where the pandemic is attacking and hurting so many countries around the world, it is imperative to find solutions to maintain health at the highest priority in order to find a solution to the pandemic in dimensions that the world has not yet known.”
UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh last month described Israeli COVID-19 research as “very exciting,” the Jerusalem Post reported. “I think public health space should be an unpoliticized space where we all try to pool our collective knowledge of this virus to improve the lives of many people around the world,” she said.
The decision to cooperate comes just a few days before the July 1 date on which Israel can begin to advance plans for applying sovereignty in parts of the West Bank. Accordingly, the Jerusalem Post reports, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tweeted last week an assurance to Jordanian King Abdullah “of UAE’s…categorical rejection of accepting Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian lands.”
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