Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to cooperate in the field of health care, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The agreement, an initiative of Israel’s ministries of health and foreign affairs, will see Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi join forces on several fronts, including in the fight against pandemics, as well as the cybersecurity and data protection fields. The agreement will also see the enactment of large-scale joint economic and health-related projects.
Israeli officials in attendance at the signing of the accord included Health Ministry International Relations Division director Asher Shalmon, Israeli Ambassador to the UAE Eitan Na’eh and Israel’s special envoy to the Arab Gulf states Zvi Heifetz. On the Emirati side, UAE Health Authority chief Yusuf Muhammad Elsarkel attended the event.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said that the accord would “bolster Israel’s health-care system” in the coming years.
Israel and the UAE signed the Abraham Accords, their historic deal normalizing relations, at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
