Abu Dhabi : The UAE, host of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), is fully capable of distinguishing between its international commitments and its refusal to normalise ties with Israel, a top official said on Saturday.
The participation of Israeli minister Silvan Shalom in the annual Irena General Assembly has led to “another smear campaign” against the UAE, Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, wrote on his Twitter account. “The UAE has been able, through a delicate balance, to differentiate between Israel’s membership in Irena and the normalisation of bilateral ties [with Tel Aviv} which Israel has been seeking,” he tweeted, adding the UAE “will not rush into a free normalisation with Israel, like some countries did.”
As for the UAE, it is clear; there is no bilateral normalisation of ties with Israel outside the framework of the peace process and the two-state solution, he said.
Gargash attributed the criticism to a smear campaign, “instigated by those who hold resentment and hostility towards the UAE, those who are perturbed by its success, its leading regional and international role, and its pioneering Arab growth experience.”
“Most people with malicious intentions do not really care about Israel’s participation in Irena’s deliberations, but they are motivated by hatred, even if they replace the rhetoric of their attack with another,” he said.
The fourth session of the Irena Assembly, Irena’s supreme governing body, started yesterday and will be followed by the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), the International Water Summit (IWS) 2014, and EcoWASTE 2014, which together form Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW 2014).
The UAE is proud to be the headquarters of Irena, the minister said, adding that other than Japan, Kenya, and the UAE, international organisations don’t have headquarters outside the Western world.
Observers believe that the recent media campaigns against the UAE are led by media close to the international organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood. Those campaigns started right after the UAE voiced its support to the Egyptian June 30 popular uprising which led to the ouster of former president Mohammad Mursi, a Brotherhood leader, who has been since on trial.
Sources told Gulf News the Israeli minister’s visit is solely to attend the Irena conference and doesn’t signal any change in the UAE position with regard to the Middle East conflict. Last week, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, told the BBC there will be no ties with Israel whatsoever before a comprehensive peace agreement is signed.
