November Special Edition 2021

18 In November 2018, the Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon named me Deputy Mayor, in charge of tourism and foreign relations. There are a few deputy mayors, like a cabinet, with everyone having a portfolio. My portfolio looks after foreign relations, development and tourism, among many other things. Part of this vast role was to essentially bring in investment, drive philanthropy, boost tourism, and act as a spokesperson for the city of Jerusalem. Our foreign relations with the UAE and Bahrain changed last year as we celebrated the landmark signing of the Abraham Accords. I wanted to dive into your role co- founding the UAE-Israel Business Council, how did that come about? About 18 months ago, a good friend of mine, Dorian Barak approached me, andwe felt somethingpositivewashappeningwith regards to the relationship with the Gulf and we thought ‘let’s not wait.’ We didn’t know it would all happen so quickly! We were ahead of the curve but by a few months! The advantage, however, was that we had ‘first mover’ advantage. So that when the normalization of ties was announced, we were already live. Today, we are up to 4,000 members, about 45% from Israel, 45% from the UAE and about 10% from the US, Morocco, Bahrain, and others. It meant that even during the pandemic, we were already up and running webinars on energy, tourism and tech, creating networking events and sending out newsletters. We had created a community that was eager to do business with each other. What was especially pleasing was that we needed a business model based on warm, sustainable and peaceful relations. While we do help, and have helped to put business deals together, this was all direct relationships between the people themselves. There are so many stories of how these direct relationships became fruitful, such as the relationship between a Palestinian entrepreneur, an Emirati businessman, and other parties who came together recently to create a growing saffron business. Following the Abraham Accords, there have been many agreements and deals signed, and a great deal of interest in many sectors. What sectors do you think there is a focus on? The focus is on the areas where there is themost need for collaboration – fields such as food, water, security. Cybersecurity is also a big area and protecting