Academic institutions in Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed their first agreement to date for academic cooperation, further strengthening ties between the two countries, reported The Jerusalem Post.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on March 10 by Israel’s Younes and Suraya Nazarian Library of the University of Haifa and the UAE’s National Library and Archives (NLA).
The MoU was signed by the university’s president Professor Ron Rubin; NLA director Abdullah Majed El Ali; university library director Naomi Gardinger; and Professor Dafna Raban, academic director of the library.
“We hope that the agreement will also lead to … cultural events around common areas of interests,” said Moran Zaga, head of the Middle East Department at the University of Haifa.
“We see the new connection as an opportunity to enrich collections and informational collaboration, which will serve the populations of researchers in both countries,” said Gardinger.
Israel and the UAE normalized relations through the Abraham Accords in September 2020.