Yesterday evening, Wednesday, Israeli media and tweeters circulated pictures of the UAE ambassador to Israel, Muhammad Mahmoud Al Khaja, while attending the Israel Cup final match alongside Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
Israelis expressed their celebration of these moments, while Arab and Gulf tweeters criticized this step.
Rabbi’s visit
And last Sunday, Al Khaja, the leader of the extremist “Shas” movement, visited Rabbi Shalom Cohen at his home in occupied Jerusalem, and from there criticized Al-Jazeera, accusing it of “fuelling madness” in the region.
During the visit, Al Khaja said, commenting on the recent developments that were characterized by the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which lasted for 11 days and was accompanied by Al Jazeera with special coverage; “TV channels like Al Jazeera and the Muslim Brotherhood are trying to show this madness in our region,” according to a report on the visit published by the Israel Broadcasting Corporation.
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It also broadcast a video clip in which the Emirati diplomat says that he was shocked when he came to Israel, and from that when he saw a mosque in Tel Aviv, other than what was offered by channels such as Al Jazeera and others, as he put it.
“The Blessing of the Priests”
For his part, the “Israel in Arabic” account on the Twitter account of the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Al Khaja received the “priests’ blessing” from the rabbi.
The account added that he spoke with the rabbi about the normalization agreement between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.
According to the Israeli account, the Emirati ambassador called on the rabbi to open the Third Temple of the Abrahamic Religions in Abu Dhabi.
It is noteworthy that the Emirati ambassador presented his credentials to the Israeli president on the first of last March, to be the first ambassador of his country to Israel, more than 6 months after the normalization of relations between the two sides.