The first of its kind since the signing of the Abraham Accords, Israel’s education delegation made an official visit to the United Arab Emirates from January 11 to 16.
The visit of Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch, along with officials from the Ministry of Education and the Council for Higher Education, was kept under censorship until the group returned home due to security concerns.
According to the Israeli Education Ministry, the purpose of the official engagement was to expand cooperation in education and higher learning with the aim to strengthen the already warm ties between the countries.
Kisch met with Emirati Education Minister Sarah Al Amiri; Chairman of the Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee Ali Al Nuaimi; Chair of the Ras Al Khaimah Education Foundation Dr. Natasha Ridge; and other senior officials, the ministry noted.
Among the issues they tackled were educational challenges within the Arab society and school curricula concerning the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the Holocaust.
Kisch also explored prominent learning institutions such as Khalifa University, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, and a government school in Abu Dhabi.
The Israeli delegation included representatives from the academic community, such as Maya Lugassi Ben-Hamo, director-general of the Council for Higher Education’s Planning and Budgeting Committee; Professor Tamar Raz-Nahum, president of Azrieli College of Engineering; professor Rivka Tuval-Mashiach, vice president for international affairs at Bar-Ilan University; and professor Malachi Noked, head of the National Institute for Energy Storage at Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Chemistry.
In 2020, Israel and the UAE established formal ties as part of the Abraham Accords, mediated by President Donald Trump during his first term.