Anti-UAE Tweets of New UAE Ambassador Uncovered
]
YERUSHALAYIM -
Monday, July 26, 2021 at 1:31 pm |
Israel’s newly-appointed ambassador to the United Arab Emirates has made a number of statements highly critical of the normalization of ties with the UAE, it emerged on Monday.
Amir Hayek, president of the Israel Hotel Association and a political supporter of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, was named to the ambassadorship on Sunday.
Israeli journalists immediately delved into Hayek’s record and discovered that he has been against the sale of F-35 fighter jets to the UAE, that an oil transport agreement would endanger Israel’s security, and that the country is a source of coronavirus infection carried by returning Israeli tourists.
Hayek mocked the small nation’s F-35 acquisition as akin to a fad, writing that “sometimes I have a feeling — an F-35 is something everyone will eventually have at home.”
He retweeted Ayelet Shaked’s remark last year that “mass COVID-spreading parties in Dubai without purple badge rules and without tests upon arrival, and in Israel the hotels are closed.”
Another comment referred to an Israel-UAE oil transport deal as a “security danger” and an “ecological danger.”
“The EAPC signed a deal with the Emirates,” Hayek tweeted. “The deal includes the transportation of immense amounts of oil through Eilat and Ashkelon. And who wasn’t updated? The infrastructure ministry and the Environmental Protection Ministry. And who will be in danger? All of us. And why was there no orderly discussion? No reason. Because there are no orderly discussions and groundwork. This is unnecessary… stop it now!”
The Environmental Protection Ministry announced yesterday that it has suspended the deal until the environmental impact can be reassessed.
Of course, those comments were made while Binyamin Netanyahu was prime minister. The current government is different.
The foreign minister’s office dismissed the reports on Monday, saying: “The days in which positions in the country were determined by tweets and Facebook stalking are over. All positions will be determined by professional criteria.”
Amir Hayek named Israel’s first ambassador to United Arab Emirates
]
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced on Sunday the appointment of Amir Hayek as Israel’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
Hayak has previously served as director-general of the Economy and Industry Ministry and the Israel Manufacturer’s Association, as well as president of the Israel Hotel Association and chairman of the ELA Recycling Corporation.
“With his vast experience and knowledge in the fields of economy and tourism, Amir Hayek is the right person to establish the bridge between Israel and the Emirates. Following the opening of the embassy, the time has also come to appoint the first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates,” said Lapid in a statement.
Hayek thanked Lapid, saying it was a “great honor for me to be the first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and represent the State of Israel.”
Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate
by email and never miss
our top stories
“The United Arab Emirates is an entire world of joint economic opportunity. This is an important and exciting mission, and we have a lot of work ahead of us. I have no doubt I will have the full cooperation of all government ministries and together, we will succeed in establishing diplomatic and economic cooperation between both countries,” he said.
Earlier this month, the UAE officially opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in a ceremony attended by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja.
Hayek’s appointment follows that of former Knesset member Ronen Hoffman as ambassador to Canada. Hoffman, a lecturer on diplomacy and foreign policy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, was one of the founders of the center’s International Institute for Counterterrorism.
Lapid Taps Tourism Exec as Israel’s First UAE Ambassador
]
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced Sunday that Israel Hotel Association president Amir Hayek will be the country’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
Hayek, a former director-general of what was once the Trade, Industry and Employment Ministry, and former CEO of the Israel Manufacturers Association, is one of the 11 ambassadorial appointments Lapid is allowed to make from outside the Foreign Service. Until now, Eitan Na’eh has served as head of Israel’s mission in Abu Dhabi.
Israel goes to the Olympics with high hopes, American ringers and no Arabs. LISTEN Subscribe 0:00 – : – 15 Skip 15 seconds backwards Play audio 15 Skip 15 seconds ahead 1 X Change playback rate from 1 to 1 Mute audio
“Amir Hayek, with rich experience and knowledge in the fields of economics and tourism, is the right person to establish the bridge between Israel and the emirates. After opening the embassy, it was time to appoint the first ambassador to the emirates,” Lapid said.
Hayek said that “It’s a great honor for me to be the first ambassador in the United Arab Emirates and to represent the State of Israel. The UAE is an entire world of joint economic opportunities; it’s an important and exciting mission, and we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The UAE’s embassy in Tel Aviv opened a week and a half ago, in the presence of President Isaac Herzog and Ambassador Mohamed al Khaja.
Three weeks ago, Lapid inaugurated the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi, declaring, “Israel wants peace with its neighbors – all its neighbors. We aren’t going anywhere. The Middle East is our home. We are here to stay, and we call on all the countries of the region to recognize that and come to talk with us.”