Wife’s hospitalisation delays Israel PM, Benjamin Netanyahu’s potential visit to UAE

Right before the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, was supposed to pay a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates, his wife has been admitted to the hospital for appendicitis, AFP reported.

Media reports from Israel had mentioned the possibilities of the  Prime Minister’s first official visit to the Islamic country, though the news was not confirmed by PM’s office. Last year, the two countries- Israel and UAE had established diplomatic ties that were facilitated by former US president Donald Trump.

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Netanyahu was supposed to visit UAE and Bahrain in February as well but that too was put off after surging cases of coronavirus in Israel had urged the government to implement a fresh set of travel restrictions.

Ahead of the elections in late March, the Prime Minister is trying to polish his image and the visit to UAE could potentially help with that considering UAE would be the third Arab country with whom Israel would form relations. Before this, the country had established ties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

The Israeli Prime Minister is also supposed to meet Czech and Hungarian leaders Andrej Babis and Viktor Orban on Thursday to discuss the distribution of COVID vaccines.

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Israel is relying on Pfizer jab for its vaccination drive under which the country has already vaccinated 40% of its population.