Zionist UAE opens phone services with Israel, unblocks Israeli websites following normalization accord

The United Arab Emirates has removed a block on telephone services with Israel and unblocked Israeli websites as part of their new agreement to normalize bilateral relations

Foreign ministers of Israel and the United Arab Emirates held their first publicly-acknowledged direct phone call on Sunday after Abu Dhabi’s recent agreement to normalize relations with Tel Aviv.

The UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, spoke by phone to inaugurate the newly-opened lines.

Shortly afterwards, Ashkenazi tweeted that the two regimes “decided together on the establishment of a direct communication channel ahead of the signing of the normalization agreement and… to meet soon.”

Phone links for the public were also functioning between the two sides.

According to reports, Israeli news websites, which previously were blocked in the UAE, could also be accessed using UAE internet connections.

“I congratulate the United Arab Emirates on the unblocking,” Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel said on Twitter, adding that the normalization of the two regime’s relations could open up “many economic opportunities.”

UAE’s Telecoms Regulatory Authority and the country’s two main telecoms operators, Du and Etisalat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel and the UAE on August 13 reached the deal that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic relations between the two sides, in an agreement apparently brokered by Trump.