November Edition 2020

25 Cross-Cultural Issues to address there are large UAE firms, such as Al Tamimi,which have a broad and impressive international perspective," says White at HFN. DLA’s Lustman also sees the communality: “Israeli and UAE lawyers are generally very professional and responsive, and put the interests of their clients above all else. They have a lot of experience working on global transactions, and are very “western” in their approach to law and business. We also have the same working week – Sunday through Thursday – it already makes us more similar than different. UAE and Israeli lawyers understand that because they are doing business with the rest of the world who work Monday through Friday, they need to be available to an extent on Fridays so that they can properly service their clients.” Tzfoni adds: “My impression is that in Israel legal services are provided by large and established local law firms which constitute a one stop shop. In the UAE the legal services are provided by is a combination of local law firms and a strong presence of branches of international law firms.” While ther e are cross-cultural issues to address,W hite adds: "The key will be negotiating and implementing transactions with a spirit of mutual respect and understanding. The historic agreements have caused widespread excitement in both business communities and the key is to finding the right commercial deals and investment opportunities which will be mutually beneficial to both sides." Krapivensky added: “On the cultural front, it also seems we are not quite as distant as we might have thought. "Spend time on building relationships, without expecting immediate return" was the advice of one senior banker. "It might seem tedious at the start, but it will pay dividends in the longer term". Arab culture favors long-term relationships of trust. Trust takes time, and effort. Put in the effort, and you will be rewarded. Israelis might take some time to understand this but rushing to feed your UAE business partners a host of various opportunities might not be the best way forward. Think long, in-depth, in-person conversations more than endless emails attaching slide decks.”