[8] The embassy of the United Arab Emirates opened on 30 May 2021 in Tel Aviv, with Mohamed Al Khaja serving as the first ambassador of the UAE to Israel.

The UAE's first president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, referred to Israel as "the enemy" of the Arab countries during the timeline surrounding the events of Yom Kippur War.

[22] After the inauguration of US President Barack Obama in 2009, the Israeli and UAE ambassadors to the United States jointly urged the incoming administration's Middle East adviser to adopt a tougher line on Iran.

[1] After the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, both Israel and the UAE lobbied for a rapprochement between the United States and Russia to contain Iranian influence in Syria.

[25] In March 2018, Netanyahu met with Otaiba and the Bahraini ambassador to the United States at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., where the issue of Iran was discussed.

[26] On 10 October 2018, Dermer and Otaiba shared a table at the annual dinner of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, where they were seen talking to one another.

[31] The agreement was made official with a signing ceremony on 15 September 2020 at the White House in Washington, D.C.[32] The UAE's ambassador to the US and close adviser to Mohammed bin Zayed, Yousef Al Otaiba, was one of the main negotiators of the peace deal.

[33] In August 2020, Al Otaiba released a statement praising the Abraham Accord as "a win for diplomacy and for the region" and stated that it "lowers tensions and creates new energy for positive change.

A senior Palestinian politician, Saeb Erekat condemned the deals as a "tremendous encouragement for the Israeli government to continue their occupation".

[42] In September 2018, the UAE hosted secret talks in Abu Dhabi between Israeli and Turkish officials to discuss restoring relations between those two countries.

[44] On 13 December 2021, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited the UAE and met with Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

[47] Restrictions were tightened against the entry of Israeli citizens following the assassination of Hamas officer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, which was blamed on Mossad.

[51] In June 2020, a trading association, known as the UAE-Israel Business Council (UIBC) was created by Dorian Barak, an Israeli-American investor and entrepreneur who had been working in the Persian Gulf region for the past decade, and Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem.

[60][61] Key areas of cooperation include technology,[58] finance,[62] logistics and transportation, medical and biotech, agriculture, energy and water, professional services.

[81] In August 2020, the UAE and Israel reached a historic Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement to lead towards full normalization of relations between the two countries.

[84][85][86] Security experts in Israel raised concern that the agreement was paving way for the Trump administration's proposed sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets and other sophisticated weaponry to the UAE.

[89] The establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries was said to be the result, most recently, of cooperation and talks between the UAE's National Security Adviser Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Yossi Cohen, the head of Israel's Mossad.

[90] In July 2020, the Israeli Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems signed an agreement with the Emirati Group 42 technology company, to offer "effective solutions" to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[91] In June 2020, the UAE's Etihad Airways landed at Ben Gurion Airport, carrying a shipment of medical supplies to assist the Palestinians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[95] On 13 September 2020, UAE's Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on AI research.

A number of players, among them Venus Williams,[98] condemned the visa rejection, and Women's Tennis Association chief Larry Scott said that he had considered canceling the tournament, but chose not to after consulting Pe'er.

Tournament director Salah Tahlak said that Pe'er was refused on the grounds that her appearance could incite anger in the Arab country, after she had already faced protests at the ASB Classic over the Gaza War.

[102] The 2008 winner of the men's singles Andy Roddick chose not to defend his title, with prize money of over $2 million, to protest against the UAE's refusal to grant Pe'er a visa.

For the first time since the expulsion of Israel from the Asian Football Confederation, the UAE allowed Israeli TV channel, Sport 5, to directly broadcast the tournament held in the country.

[110] In November 2019, 17-year-old Israeli Alon Leviev won the gold medal in the junior category at the Ju-jitsu World Championship, held in Abu Dhabi.