Homs in technology: normalization of relations and Israeli CEOs are looking for "friends" and deals in the United Arab Emirates

Before normalization, there were secret links between the Gulf state and Israel's thriving high-tech sector.

Dubai:

If you had asked Israeli businessman Yehuntan Bin Hammuzeg earlier this year where he would introduce his palm tree-saving technology in October, there was no chance he would say the United Arab Emirates.

But after a surprising US-backed normalization deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, the soft-spoken, gray-haired businessman found himself doing just that at a Dubai hotel last week.

Bin Hammouzj is the founder and CEO of Agrint, a company that uses seismic sensors to detect insects that eat - and destroy - palm trees from the inside.

He was one of 13 business leaders who joined a four-day trip to the United Arab Emirates organized by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), a venture-capitalist firm.

Before normalization, there were secret links between the Gulf state and Israel's thriving high-tech sector.

But after the deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election on Tuesday, those ties have surfaced and are expected to expand.

“We learn, we open our eyes, friendships and personal relationships are formed,” said the founder of the JVP, Eril Margalit, who led the Israeli delegation.

Margalit enjoys her charismatic and collectivist personality, and is one of the top venture capitalists in Israel, having supported more than 150 tech startups.

He insisted that the UAE's potential for Israel's economy is enormous, both in terms of direct partnerships in the financial, technology and food sectors, but also as a gateway to Arab markets that remain isolated from the Jewish state.

A Palestinian businessman from East Jerusalem, a former Mossad spy official turned businessman, and desert crops expert - three men who have worked with the United Arab Emirates for years - traveled alongside the thirteen chief executives, and were key players in organizing the meetings.

The group has openly mixed with Emirati business leaders and government officials at a luxury hotel in Dubai's financial district and across the city.

Besides networking events - some of them complicated by coronavirus restrictions - delegates held private meetings with potential partners, with landmark visibility scattered between the events.

Muhammad Mandeel, chief operating officer at Royal Strategic Partners in Abu Dhabi, pointed to a high-protein chickpea powder made by the Israeli company InnovoPro to illustrate the potential for regional cooperation.

"If you get a Dutch company and tell them hummus, they'll say - what the hell is this," said Mandeel, who wore the traditional Emirati white dress, using the Arabic word for hummus.

He said Israeli companies can be powerful partners as they understand the Middle East, including the pursuit of food security in an often challenging agricultural environment.

In addition, it can be a bridge to peace between nations.

Prior to normalization, Israeli Ronen Yehoshua was already working in Dubai, but his cybersecurity firm, Morphesic, was represented by a third party.

He said it was now possible to "move from shadow to light."

"At the end of the day, we were the traditional owners of the assets or oil or any other commodity. We would like to see how we can encode this digitally in an appropriate form," she said.

"I hope we see a time when it becomes natural for us to list each other's companies on our exchanges," said Zafiri, who is also an advisor to the royal family.

Friends first, work yet

While Margalit's delegation was looking for business partners, it stressed that private sector deals were a proven means of cementing peace between nations.