UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash is seen at a preparatory meeting for the GCC, Arab and Islamic summits in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 29, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Waleed Ali.

The United Arab Emirate’s minister of state for foreign affairs said on Thursday that his country’s new peace with Israel would be “warm,” but that its embassy will be in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem.

UAE media outlet The National reported that, participating in an Atlantic Council video briefing, Dr. Anwar Gargash said a “warm” peace was possible because “unlike Jordan and unlike Egypt we have not fought a war with Israel.”

As a result, he noted, enmity toward Israel was not “part of the national psyche.”

Gargash said that peace with Israel was “coming sooner or later” and was part of a larger push by the UAE to engage with the global community.

“We can’t do this while we maintain an exclusive view of the world,” he started. “This is one of the bold and strategic decisions that we made. It will open up the region further. We are very touched by the universal support for the decision from different capitals.”

The minister also insisted that the normalization deal with Israel that was announced last week did not signal an abandonment by the UAE of the Palestinian cause, saying his country was “committed” to a two-state solution and asserting that the accord halted an Israeli government push to annex parts of the West Bank.

“By linking to the agreement to the suspension of annexation, we came out with a good deal,” he commented.

Perhaps to emphasize this, Gargash pointed out that his country’s embassy in Israel would be in Tel Aviv, rather than Jerusalem.