The UAE announced, on Thursday, the launch of a $ 10 billion fund to invest in Israel, according to a statement reported by the official Emirates News Agency, WAM .

According to the statement, the fund was announced following a phone call today between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu was scheduled to visit Abu Dhabi today, “but an imbalance in the coordination regarding the passage of his plane through Jordanian airspace led to ponement of the visit,” according to Hebrew media.

The Emirates News Agency reported that bin Zayed and Netanyahu discussed the phone call, “the progress of bilateral relations in light of the peace treaty (the normalization agreement) that was signed.”

Following the call, the creation of a $ 10 billion fund was announced, aimed at investing in strategic sectors inside Israel.

The statement stated that “the UAE will, through the fund, invest in Israel within strategic sectors, including energy, manufacturing, water, space, health care, agricultural technology, and others.”

He continued, “The fund will focus on development initiatives and strengthening economic cooperation between the two parties, and it will be funded from government allocations and UAE private sector institutions.”

The establishment of the fund aims to “strengthen economic relations … open the way for investments, and create partnership opportunities to advance social and economic growth,” according to the agency.

The UAE and Israel signed in mid-September 2020 , a full normalization agreement for their relations, followed by dozens of agreements in the economic, trade, tourism, technological, health, and banking fields.

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