The newfound peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was celebrated on Wednesday with a ceremony in which white doves were released heavenward by three rabbis and two imams.

By the Levant News Newsdesk
The ceremony took place at the Israel Dubai Business Forum, a conference at the Marriott Marquis Dubai Hotel organized by businessman Haim Weizman. Dozens of businessmen, rabbis and public figures from Israel, UAE, France, Pakistan and other countries came to the conference, which was sponsored by Weizman and the business of his sons, Weizman Properties.

“This peace here is real,” Weizman said. “The peace deals with Egypt and Jordan are just peace between politicians. There is barely any business with them. Here we do business with people from across the Arab world. All of the cream of the crop of the Arab world is here.”

Weizman lauded the cooperation between Arabs and Israelis in Dubai. When he sold many apartments in a building owned by a Syrian developer, the developer gave him a room in the building for a synagogue and permitted a kosher restaurant and Shabbat elevator to be added.

“A Syrian contributed a synagogue in Dubai to Israelis – that is something that has never happened before in the world,” Weizman said. Isral-Dubai helps make connections between Israel and the UAE in several fields, including security, health and agriculture.

“We offer real estate deals for Israeli investors – large and small,” said Marom Weizman, Israel-Dubai’s deputy director-general for business development. Ahead of the conference, former MK Hilik Bar, who is Israel-Dubai’s director of strategy and diplomatic connections, came to build ties with government officials. Economy Minister Amir Peretz and former science and technology minister Yaakov Peri, who is chairman of Weizman Properties, sent greetings to the conference on Wednesday morning.

“Hanukkah is a time of miracles and strength for the Jewish people,” Weizman said. “On Hanukkah last year, no one could have imagined that we would be lighting candles this year in Dubai with new friends from the UAE. We are building friendships and close business ties that will open a variety of different opportunities for investors from Israel and other countries.”