On September 15, 2020, the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain joined Israel's prime minister on the lawn of the White House. The trio had shocked the world by signing the Abraham Accords, one of the most significant diplomatic achievements in the history of the modern Middle East.
For its more than 70 years of existence, Israel had known mostly enmity with its Arab neighbours. Only Egypt and Jordan recognised Israel’s existence, and that came as the result of bloody wars.
The Abraham Accords promised something far better: peace built on “mutual understanding and coexistence” – Israel finally had its first Arab friends.
The fifth paragraph of the accords detailed how the signatories planned to build this relationship: “We support science, art, medicine and commerce to inspire humankind, maximise human potential and bring nations closer together.”
Three years on, venture capitalist Sabah Al Binali of OurCrowd – the first Emirati partner at an Israeli firm – sat down with The National to give his assessment of the current state of UAE-Israel commerce.
“I believe the potential of the accords is much bigger than many think,” he says from his office in Abu Dhabi.
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Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, speaks to Donald Trump, US president at the time, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office in September 2020. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, meets Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state at the time. Wam -
Sheikh Abdullah and Mr Pompeo in Washington. Wam -
Sheikh Abdullah visits Washington in September last year. Wam -
Sheikh Abdullah, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, US President Donald Trump, centre, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign the Abraham Accord at the White House South Lawn. MOFAIC -
Sheikh Abdullah and, from left, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at the White House. MOFAIC -
Sheikh Abdullah, Mr Al Zayani and Mr Netanyahu at the White House during the Abraham Accord signing ceremony. MOFAIC -
Sheikh Abdullah and, from left, Mr Netanyahu, Mr Trump and Mr Al Zayani wave from the Truman Balcony at the White House. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah and, from left, Mr Al Zayani, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump sign the Abraham Accord. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah and, from left, Mr Al Zayani, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump after the signing ceremony. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah and, from left, Mr Al Zayani, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump after the signing ceremony. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah speaks from the Truman Balcony at the White House during the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accord. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah speaks as Mr Trump looks on before the signing of Abraham Accord on the South Lawn of the White House. AP -
Sheikh Abdullah looks on from the White House as Mr Trump speaks at the Abraham Accord signing ceremony, also attended by Mr Al Zayani and Mr Netanyahu. AP -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani stand on the Blue Room Balcony during the signing ceremony. AP -
Sheikh Abdullah and Mr Al Zayani shortly before participating in the signing of the Abraham Accord. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah, with Mr Netanyahu, left, and Mr Al Zayani at the signing of the Abraham Accord on the South Lawn of the White House. AFP -
US President Donald Trump speaks from the Truman Balcony at the White House during the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accord. AFP -
President Donald Trump walks to the Abraham Accord signing ceremony at the White House with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani. AP -
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives at the White House to attend the Abraham Accord signing ceremony hosted by President Donald Trump. EPA -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, meets US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House before the signing of Abraham Accord. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, in the Oval Office. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, meets US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah with Mr Trump in the Oval Office. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, with by President Donald Trump at the White House. Mustafa Alrawi / The National -
The UAE delegation led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, with US President Donald Trump at the White House. Mustafa Alrawi / The National -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, is welcomed to the White House by US President Donald Trump. EPA -
Sheikh Abdullah and Mr Trump outside the White House. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed speaks to Mr Trump after arriving at the White House. Reuters -
White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner walks away following a television interview on the North Lawn at the White House in Washington. Reuters -
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome the arrival of Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington DC. AFP -
A delegation of senior UAE officials led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, prepares to depart for the White House to sign the Abraham Accord. MOFAIC -
US President Donald Trump welcomes Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani. AFP -
Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani arrives at the White House in Washington DC. AFP -
US President Donald Trump welcomes Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP -
Preparations at the White House for the signing of the Abraham Accord. -
Preparations under way at the White House for the signing of the Abraham Accord. -
Preparations under way at the White House for the signing of the Abraham Accord. -
Preparation at the White House for the signing of the Abraham Accord. The National
But Mr Al Binali is not starry-eyed – it has been a rocky start. Business is still business, and three years on, he thinks there is lots of work and introspection to be done.
“There’s a phrase in venture capital to describe a problem many tech companies face: the valley of death. It’s when a firm sees an opportunity and has developed something, but hasn’t yet got market validation,” he explained.
“They get overexcited, and then things drop suddenly. I believe we find ourselves in such a place.
“There was a big flurry of meetings at the beginning. But meetings aren’t activity. Activity is learning what each side wants and finding commonalities.”
It is not an admission of defeat. Bilateral trade between the UAE and Israel still reached more $2.5 billion in 2022.
But Mr Al Binali says it is crucial to learn from early growing pains if the commercial side of the accords is to grow in the years ahead.
“Many people thought it would take a shorter time to fulfil commercial potential than I ever did,” he said.
partner at Israeli firm OurCrowd
“It is important to remember that the UAE and Israel were markets that had never met. They needed time to get to know each other and figure out how to work together.”
Early optimism caused a rush, and in that rush, not enough commercial players have “rolled up their sleeves and taken time to understand the other side”.
Stereotypes went unchallenged, leading to many companies misunderstanding the moment and quite how big, and also complex, the opportunity really was.
Mr Al Binali believes one of the main stereotypes that still lingers is that “innovation and technology comes from Israel and that capital comes from the UAE”.
“That’s limiting and untrue. The Emirates has innovation in services, freight, hotels and airlines, for example, and Israel has significant capital access from around the world,” he said.
“People talk about high expectations that fell short. I disagree. One part of the expectation fell short because people got overexcited about the time it would take to learn to work with each other.”
Life before venture capital might have helped Mr Al Binali adjust sooner than others. Israel and the Jewish world was not a surprise for him.
“I spent 10 years in the US as an undergraduate at Princeton University where there’s a big Jewish community. I made a lot of friends there. I then went to Columbia University for graduate school, where my supervisor was Israeli,” he said.
When OurCrowd approached him soon after the accords were signed, rather than starting to scramble for deals, the firm opened OurCrowd Arabia, an outpost that Mr Al Binali said was crucial to both sides understanding one another.
“Other enterprises came in never having worked with each other, and with certain preconceived notions,” he added.
“There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. It’s how start-ups work. You have a preconceived notion, you test it, and it very rarely works the first time. So you adjust.
“On the whole, that adjustment hasn’t been happening, except in our case. I hope others start doing it, particularly as we start showing how the process works.”
In the short to medium term, Mr Al Binali thinks this adjustment phase creates favourable conditions for “a few focused companies” rather than the high number of “very large groups” that rushed in during the early, giddy days right after the accords.
“You can’t rush markets and economies. They’re like huge anchors … But I still think that this is going to pay off in a big way,” he said.
“It goes back to how to find an operating model that works for all the stakeholders.”
Even the successful pioneers of UAE-Israel commerce have not found that model yet. But Mr Al Binali does have a benchmark for success in the years ahead.
“At the 10-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords, I don’t just want to see more Emirati companies going to Israel and more Israeli companies coming to the Emirates,” he said.
“I want to see Emiratis and Israelis working together, building companies and bringing their different but complementary skill sets, networks and visions to build truly sustainable companies.”
