Leading Israel hospital in talks to open Dubai branch, bring top docs to UAE

Israel’s leading hospital is in talks to open a branch in Dubai and potentially relocate some of its top doctors to the UAE, according to Israeli media reports.

Hadassah Medical Center, based in Jerusalem, is in the beginning stages of negotiations to open in Dubai, according to the hospital’s director-general Zeev Rotstein.

Read more: US, Bahrain’s King Hamad Center sign deal to fight anti-Semitism, promote peace

“They want us in the Emirates; they appreciate us; they want to benefit from our abilities,” Rotstein told the Jerusalem Post following his visit to the UAE last week as part of the Abraham Accords Business Summit.

Rotstein told Israeli news outlet Kan that the “proposal is a revolution — to establish Hadassah Hospital as a medical power in the United Arab Emirates.”

Medical staff hold Israeli national flags before a fly over by the Israeli Air Force over Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem on April 29, 2020. (Reuters)

If the partnership materializes, some Israeli doctors and research departments at Hadassah could move from Jerusalem to Dubai.

Business – not as usual

Weeks before the August 13 announcement that the UAE and Israel would normalize relations, two private UAE companies signed a scientific and medical agreement with two Israeli companies to develop research and technology relating to COVID-19.

Since then, the two countries have established bilateral agreements on a range of issues including tourism, telecommunications, and healthcare.

Collaboration in the private sector has taken off alongside the establishment of the UAE-Israel Business Council, which aims to foster economic cooperation between the two nations.

Skyline of Dubai, left, and Jerusalem, right. (AFP)

“The council is both a platform for business connections and an active creator of joint ventures between the two countries,” council co-founder and deputy mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum told Al Arabiya English.

Private companies are using the council as a resource, such as Dubai’s Virtuzone and Abu Dhabi’s APEX Holdings, which announced on Monday “Virtuzone Israel,” a joint venture that will assist Israeli entrepreneurs and companies looking to access the UAE market.

The council is helping Virtuzone and APEX identify companies in Israel that are looking to move into the UAE market.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, second right, with Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Economic Development Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, far right, and US Ambassador to the UAE John Rakolta Jr., second left. (Twitter)

“We are excited to help the thousands of Israeli companies who are looking to create business operations in the UAE,” said Jewish businessman James Brenig, executive director of Apex Holdings, in a statement.

So far 250 Israeli companies are trading with UAE companies, according to the council.

Read more:

Neglected and stateless: How Jerusalem Palestinians may benefit from Gulf-Israel ties

US reiterates potential serious consequences for Turkey after Erdogan mocks sanctions

Coronavirus: Dubai updates winter tourism travel rules; UK, Germany test on arrival