At the inaugural meeting of the Trilateral Religious Coexistence Working Group in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the State of Israel unveiled an ambitious agenda to promote interfaith and intercultural communication and combat religious prejudice and bigotry. The group, which was announced last October at the first trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of all three countries, is a direct result of the historic Abraham Accords and builds on the just finished Negev Summit. In September 2020, the Abraham Accords were signed, formally establishing relations between the UAE and Israel. New chances for a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East continue to emerge as a result of the diplomatic breakthrough.
Other Abraham Accords signatories, as well as governments interested in building relations with Israel, are expected to join the working group. The working group will support a variety of initiatives in areas such as education, youth programming, and religious coexistence by collaborating with committed governments, organizations, philanthropies, and creative leaders from around the region. Some of these projects will get underway later this year. Their governments were represented by UAE Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Israeli Minister of Intelligence Elazar Stern, and US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya.