Rabat- Miri Regrev, Israel’s culture and sports minister, visited the UAE’s largest mosque on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam.
Regrev toured the UAE’s Sheikh Zayed grand mosque, the world’s third largest mosque on Sunday. Wearing traditional Arab grab, the Israeli minister was spotted touring the grand mosque as a delegation of UAE officials accompanied her.
In a Hebrew-language video Regrev later posted on Facebook, she spoke warmly of her visit and the hospitality of her hosts. She said the first visit by an Israeli official to the Muslim holy place was a “wonderful opportunity” and “a message of peace and unity.”
“I am happy that I was privileged to be the first senior official from Israel to sign the mosque’s guest book,” she said on Facebook.
Hours before the mosque tour on Sunday, the Israeli official watched the Israeli judo team win the gold medal at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. In an emotional burst, the Israeli minister fought back her tears as her country’s national anthem was sung in a state that does not formally recognize the state of Israel.
“It’s a dream come true. For two years we had talks in order to reach this moment and it was hard to stop the tears. I want to thank the authorities in Abu Dhabi and our hosts here who received us in an exemplary manner,” she said afterwards.
The Abu Dhabi grand mosque visit was the first time an Israeli official has visited the Gulf state since 1996.
Israeli news outlets have described the visit and the singing of the Israeli anthem as a sign of “normalization” of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The visit, they said, marks the beginning of “sea change in Israel’s diplomatic push in the Arab world.”
Four days prior to Regrev’s Abu Dhabi moment, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited neighboring Oman.
Speaking on Sunday about the positives of the two visits, he said that it was all “thanks to diplomatic efforts in the Arab world.” He then promised that “there will be more” of such visits.
In the predominantly pro-Palestine Arab world, however, the signs of slow rapprochement between Israel and the Gulf states have raised questions about the fate of the Palestinians.
The Palestinian cause, as the struggle of Palestinians is known is the Arab world, has been a rallying cry for Arab states, traditionally making it the first point of order in an eventual normalization process with Israel.
