UAE's foreign minister met with Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid for three hours in Italy

UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and former Israeli PM Yair Lapid met in Italy on Tuesday, 8 August. Israeli news outlets reported that the meeting took place for about three hours at the request of the Emiratis.

"I was happy to meet today my friend and fellow traveller, Abdullah bin Zayed, the Emirati Foreign Minister, in Italy", Lapid posted on X (formerly Twitter). 

 "We discussed the strategic collaborations, the relations with the Gulf countries and the promotion of projects so that we can continue to cooperate and deepen the common interests and the relations between the countries", he added. 

Yair Lapid, 59, is currently the opposition leader. Previously, he served as the 14th Prime Minister of Israel from 1 July to 29 December 2022.

The meeting is noteworthy because current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has not met with officials from the United Arab Emirates since returning to office last December. 

Netanyahu's governing coalition of religious and far-right lawmakers who share his hard-line views toward the Palestinians have reportedly irked officials of the Gulf nation, which normalised relations with Israel in what became known as the Abraham Accords in 2020.