A direct outcome of the Abraham Accords, the working group aims to counter religious intolerance and hatred.

The inaugural meeting took place in Dubai.

 

The UAE, Israel, and the United States have launched an ambitious agenda to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue and counter religious intolerance and hatred at an  inaugural meeting of the Trilateral Religious Coexistence Working Group in Dubai.

A direct outcome of the historic Abraham Accords, the group was announced last October at the first trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of all three countries.

The Abraham Accords were signed in September 2020 and normalized UAE and Bahrain relations with Israel.  The diplomatic breakthrough is creating new opportunities for a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East.

The working group expects to expand its membership to include other Abraham Accord signatories, as well as other nations that have already normalized or that may be interested in normalizing relations with Israel.

Working with committed governments, established organizations, dedicated philanthropies, and dynamic leaders across the region, the working group will support a range of initiatives in such areas as education, youth programming, and religious coexistence. Some of these activities will be launched this year.

Emirati Minister of Health Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Israeli Minister of Intelligence Elazar Stern, and U.S. Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya represented their respective governments at Monday’s Dubai meeting.

“The Abraham Accords have become the most important force for positive change in the Middle East.  To realize their full potential, we must reverse long-held mistrust, misconceptions and misgivings about one another.  We must find new ways to encourage people-to-people engagement that bridges religions, cultures, and nationalities,” said UAE Minister Al Owais.

“The murderous terror attack in Hadera is just another example of the importance of pressing forward with the initiative led by the Foreign Ministers as part of the Abraham Accords to promote tolerance, coexistence and peace. Tolerance and coexistence are the paths to our shared humanity and peace. The Abraham Accords have shattered long-standing paradigms and now it is our duty to build on them and widen the circle of peace, regionally and globally, through these meetings of the Abrahamic faiths to send a clear message of reconciliation, acceptance and inclusion. It is a great honor to lead Israel and the global Jewish community in this historic initiative,” said Minister Stern.

“The Abraham Accords represent one of the most significant strategic shifts over my three decades of diplomacy in this region and bring clear-cut benefits not just to the countries and peoples concerned, but to the rest of the world as well,” said U.S. Under Secretary Uzra Zeya.