UAE sentences Israeli lady to demise, testing new ties

The United Arab Emirates has sentenced an Israeli lady to demise for cocaine possession, Israeli media reported Tuesday, in a serious take a look at of latest relations between the Mideast nations.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that it’s engaged on the case of the girl, recognized in native information experiences as Fida Kiwan, a 43-year-old Haifa resident who owns a images studio.

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The Israeli information web site Ynet stated Kiwan was arrested on March 21, 2021, with half a kilogram (over 1 pound) of cocaine that she claimed didn’t belong to her. Kiwan’s lawyer is reportedly interesting the sentence, which could possibly be transformed to a jail time period.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the case.

The UAE’s harsh drug legal guidelines may take a look at burgeoning relations between Israel and the UAE beneath the “Abraham Accords,” a sequence of diplomatic pacts between Israel and 4 Arab nations brokered by the Trump administration in 2020.

Normalization has turned glitzy Dubai right into a freewheeling Israeli vacationer vacation spot. Israel’s prime leaders, together with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, have met with their counterparts within the Gulf state, and the UAE was a part of an unprecedented assembly of Arab and Israeli international ministers in Israel’s Negev desert late final month.

As for Kiwan, Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated it “is aware of the incident and is taking care of it through the division of Israelis abroad in the consular department and Israeli representations in the UAE.” Israeli media reported that Kiwan got here to Dubai for work on the invitation of a Palestinian acquaintance somewhat over a 12 months in the past. She was arrested a short time later after a search of her house turned up the medicine.

Officials with information of the case informed The Times of Israel, one other Israeli information web site, that they count on the sentence to be decreased to an extended jail time period upon enchantment.

The UAE is likely one of the world’s most restrictive nations in relation to folks importing and possessing medicine, together with substances for private use like hashish and even over-the-counter drugs like narcotics.

Trafficking usually carries a life sentence and possession a shorter jail sentence. While UAE legislation permits for the demise penalty in sure instances, capital punishment isn’t carried out. The final recognized executions have been in 2011 and 2014, in opposition to two males convicted of homicide.