Israel’s two biggest banks sending delegations to UAE

Israel’s two largest banks are headed to the United Arab Emirates this month to explore opportunities for cooperation now that the countries have started normalising ties.

A delegation from Israel’s Bank Hapoalim, led by chief executive officer Dov Kotler, will travel to the UAE on Tuesday to meet with banking and finance executives, as well as senior economic officials, the lender said on Sunday in a statement.

A Bank Leumi le-Israel team of 20 senior executives, led by chairman Samer Haj Yehia and CEO Hanan Friedman, is scheduled to visit the UAE on September 14, and plans to sign cooperation agreements with leading Emirati banks while there, the Israeli lender said.

Read: First Abu Dhabi Bank to Start Talks With Israeli Lenders

The normalisation process announced last month is the first between Israel and a Gulf Arab state.