Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef visited the United Arab Emirates this weekend. The rabbi traveled to the Emirates on Thursday and spent the Sabbath there, coming back on Sunday. He visited both Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the first-ever visit by a sitting chief rabbi to an Arab country.

Yosef was hosted by the small Jewish community in Dubai. Prior to his visit, the community said in a statement, “During his visit, he will meet with senior Emirati officials, inaugurate the newly certified Jewish [nursery] school and, in a special ceremony, invest Rabbi Levi Duchman as rabbi of the Emirati Jewish community.”

Shortly after his arrival, the rabbi met with a series of Emirati officials and members of the royal family, including Minister of State for Tolerance Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and Minister of Federal National Council Affairs Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi.

The rabbi reportedly thanked his hosts for safeguarding freedom of religion in their country so that Jews can practice their religion freely. He told them about his father, the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who was born in Iraq and served for a period as rabbi and religious judge in Egypt. Ovadia Yosef offered an example for inter-religious coexistence, with Jewish life thriving alongside other religions.