None of the agency’s 143 other member states have a diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi accredited to Irena, said Timothy Hurst, the agency’s chief communications officer, because most other members are represented by their own diplomatic missions.
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Citing Israeli diplomats, the news agency “Reuters” reported Friday that the would not be a full mission, but consist of a diplomat assigned to the renewable energy agency.
Al Falasi said that functions of missions accredited to IRENA are limited to dealings with the agency.
Israel is set to open a mission in Abu Dhabi as part of an global green energy body, Israeli officials said on Friday (Nov 27) – its first official presence in the United Arab Emirates.
If the plan goes through, the office would serve as Israel’s first official representation in the country.
IRENA and the U.A.E. Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Qatar and Oman closed the Israeli trade offices in 2000, shortly after the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada, and Israel has not had an official presence in an Arab Gulf state since.
The office, first reported on the website of Haaretz, the Israeli daily, is scheduled to open “soon”, according to Emmanuel Nahshon, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.
Israel has had strenuous relationships with Arab countries in the Middle East since its foundation and does not conduct diplomatic contacts with them, with the exceptions of Egypt and Jordan, with whom Israel signed peace treaties in 1979 and 1994, respectively.
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UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Mohammed Gargash said in 2014 that the country was striking “a delicate balance” between Israel’s membership of IRENA and the normalisation of UAE-Israeli ties which, he claimed, Israel sought. Dubai police investigators accused the Israel’s Mossad espionage agency of the assassination, and even published photographs of members of the hit team. Israeli passport holders are barred from entering the UAE. Indeed, the UAE has far more to lose from normalising relations with Israel than Tel Aviv. Israel has never confirmed or denied involvement.
