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Source: https://www.france24.com/en/20191215-israel-eyes-dubai-expo-as-portal-to-arab-world
Israel Eyes Dubai Expo as Portal to Arab World
(AFP-France 24) With the Dubai Expo 2020 trade fair opening next year, the Israeli pavilion will present a unique opportunity to speed up the "normalization" of relations and reach out to Arab peoples, officials say. Dore Gold, former director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the "quasi-diplomatic presence" of the pavilion is one of several developments with "a cumulative effect." He cited sporting competitions and the 2015 opening in Abu Dhabi of an Israeli mission to the International Renewable Energy Agency, which is based there. "It's not normalization, but it's an enhanced presence," he said. While the Gulf Arab states have not lost interest in the Palestinian issue, "these countries are looking after themselves," including enhancing security cooperation with Israel against Iran. Gold, who heads the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs think-tank, said, "The name of the game is how to find joint interests that don't create a big stir. In any case, if you did public opinion surveys, you'd find that throughout most of the Gulf there's a kind of understanding that Israel's part of the region."