Israel's Herzog to attend funeral of UAE president
Israel and UAE enjoyed close ties since signing historic normalization treaty
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![Israel's President Isaac Herzog with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the UAE, January 30, 2022.](https://cdn.i24news.tv/uploads/db/52/45/48/10/93/08/e4/a7/53/0c/4b/fb/c5/80/89/db524548109308e4a7530c4bfbc58089.jpg?width=1000)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to fly to the United Arab Emirates and take part in the state funeral of President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who passed away on Friday.
This will mark Herzog's second official visit to the Gulf kingdom and he reportedly intends to meet the new President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, along with other senior officials.
Sheikh Mohamed was elected by the Federal Supreme Council as the country's third president, after years of calling the shots from behind the scenes while his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa was sidelined by poor health.
Israel and the the UAE normalized relations in September 2020, signing on to the historic US-brokered Abraham Accords — which also includes Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — at the White House.
In the past month there were some tension between the two allies over the clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount site.
However the ties between the two states, brought together by both trade interests and a common enemy in Iran, remain very close.