Cabinet minister visits Abu Dhabi

Israel for the first time has sent a Cabinet minister to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, an Arab nation that does not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau attended a conference of the International Renewable Energy Agency that opened Jan. 17.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Jan. 16 that this was a first visit by an Israeli Cabinet minister to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. But he added it was “within the framework of an international conference and not in a bilateral framework.”

The agency’s activities are open to Israel because it is a member state. It is not clear whether Landau will meet with emirate leaders.

Israel has diplomatic ties with two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan. — ap