Telephone service between the United Arab Emirates and Israel began working Sunday as the two countries opened diplomatic ties.
The UAE's Foreign Ministry tweeted that Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi "inaugurated a phone link between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel and exchanged greetings following the historic Peace Accord signed by the two countries".
Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel, however, welcomed the move. "These trust-building steps are crucial for the interests of both nations," said the minister, finishing his statement with the traditional Arabic greeting of "As-salamu alaykum."
In the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, a recorded message in Arabic and English would play saying calls to the +972 country code could not be connected.
The advent of internet calling allowed people to get around the ban, though these too were often interrupted. Some in Israel used Palestinian mobile phone numbers, which the UAE could call.
Also Sunday, Israeli news websites that had previously been blocked by UAE authorities, like the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews, could be accessed without using means to bypass internet filtering in the Emirates.
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A man reads a copy of UAE-based The National newspaper near the Burj Khalifa, in the Gulf emirate of Dubai
(Photo: AFP)
Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday they are establishing full diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal that required Israel to halt its contentious plan to annex West Bank land sought by the Palestinians.
The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.