Two years on from the signing of the Abraham Accords it is clear they are already a triumph, which is about to get even better.
Trade, business, and tourist ties have blossomed between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. It seems only a matter of time before Israel expands its ties with other countries in the region.
The success of the Abraham Accords has surpassed even the most optimistic predictions. Israel and the UAE concluded a free trade agreement in record time, while hundreds of thousands of Israelis have flocked to the Emirates, where there are now more kosher hotels and restaurants than in many European capitals.
In the first 7 months of 2022, UAE-Israel trade reached $1.4 Billion, more than $1.2 Billion booked in last total year’s amount. And as Israel’s new Ambassador to the UAE recently tweeted, “We just started!” The numbers going forward will definitely become larger, even quite huge if insiders’ predictions come true.
“We are looking to create over $1 trillion dollars of economic activity over the next decade,” Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, the UAE Economy minister, said in September 2021, on the first anniversary of the normalization.
I witnessed these historic developments in their infancy, as one of the first Israeli investors invited to speak at a public event in the UAE, long before the Abraham Accords were signed.
When OurCrowd appointed Dr. Sabah al-Binali to head our UAE business, we were among the first Israeli companies to appoint an Emirati to a senior position.
In the past year, Dr. al-Binali, now Executive Chairman of OurCrowd Arabia, has moved swiftly to establish OurCrowd as the first Israeli investment firm licensed by ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Markets) the main Abu Dhabi regulatory authorities. Our Emirati investment portfolio is expanding and ties between OurCrowd companies and UAE partners are flourishing.
-A great example of these companies working in the region, is ThetaRay, whose financial cybercrime detection platform monitors cross-border transactions for money laundering and other violations. ThetaRay recently announced a deal with Mashreq Bank in February, its first direct licensing agreement with a UAE bank.
Mark Gazit, CEO of ThetaRay, said he hoped the Mashreq deal would pave the way for more contracts in the UAE and other Arab countries.
We expect the Abraham Accords to pave the way for more cooperation between Israel and the region. Improving Israel’s relations with the broader Middle East is a rare and precious point of bipartisan agreement in US and even world politics. It will help to unleash the benefits of truly regional joint technology development to help the world grapple with the global crises in food, water and energy that threatens the stability of many countries around the world. The world will begin to recognize the Middle East as a leader in progress, rather than conflict; in innovation rather than violence. Nothing can be more important for the peoples of the region and the world.
We want to create partnerships that help all of us to develop more expertise and build better businesses in many areas, such as food security, desert technology, water, climate, health care, mobility, smart cities and so much more. Together we to share the benefits of our joint appetite to take risks, to improvise, to move fast and solve critical challenges, to invest in far-sighted startups and encourage them to grow. Together we will learn to not just start new and exciting businesses but scale them as truly global giants creating countless jobs, investment profits and benefits for mankind.
The Zeitgeist of this era is velocity. Innovation has never moved so fast. Digital transformation changed all our lives during the pandemic, as we witnessed with the rapid growth of work from home, of telemedicine, of remote education, and of e-commerce. So, it is little wonder that with the fall of the Sand Curtain which had previously separated Israel from its natural friends and neighbors in the region an enormous new exuberance and energy has been released, generating true excitement and ultimately realization of our joint interests.
We want to broaden everyone’s horizons, including our own. We see Israel and our neighbors not as destinations, but as gateways. For example, through the UAE, Israeli startups can reach manufacturing and distribution scale, and can expand into the wider Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Through Israel, Emirati companies can access new cutting-edge technology and gain traction in the US and Europe. Together, we can help each other grow across the globe.
We are here for the long term, and we look forward to jointly developing the kinds of tech-based businesses that will not only create prosperity for their founders and good returns for investors, but will also tackle the most urgent global challenges facing us today.
OurCrowd is proud to have been one of the leaders of Israel’s business community in establishing ties with our new partners in the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, and I am confident we will be in the vanguard of Israel’s future economic relationship with more regional neighbours.
Jon Medved is the CEO and Founder of OurCrowd, the global equity investment platform based in Jerusalem.
