Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a historic agreement with the United Arab Emirates in an Aug. 13 press conference. He said that delegations from the two countries will meet in the coming weeks to finalize the details. According to reports on Aug. 14, an Israeli official delegation will travel to the UAE as early as next week to meet with the country’s top leadership. A diplomatic source told Al-Monitor that the composition of the team has yet to be finalized. Channel 12 reported that a senior Israeli official would lead the negotiating team, while Ynet specified it would be Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.
Yesterday, at the televised press conference, Netanyahu acknowledged keeping the negotiations secret and not sharing the news even with his Blue and White partners until the last minute. Neither Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi nor Defense Minister Benny Gantz were privy to the contacts with the UAE. Reports that came out later last night revealed that Cohen and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, had worked behind the scenes. Cohen had apparently traveled to the UAE on several occasions to advance the agreement, while Dermer was in constant contact with UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al-Otaiba. This morning, Netanyahu tweeted, "I am very grateful to Israel’s ambassador to the United States, @AmbDermer, for helping bring the historic treaty with the UAE."