Even before El Al flight 971 made its historic landing in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 31, ministers from the Blue and White Party had a series of warm phone calls with their UAE counterparts.
The first to make a call was Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. He spoke with the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed just a few days after news of the agreement was released. They agreed to maintain a direct line of contact in the days leading up to the signing of the normalization agreement and said that they would meet in person soon. The next day, Israelis and Emirates could place direct calls to each other.
