DUBAI, (Reuters) – Israel’s President Isaac Herzog made his first visit to the United Arab Emirates. His office stated that he was trying to improve Gulf ties during heightened tensions in the region as world power seek to revive a deal with Iran.

In 2020, the UAE and Bahrain signed U.S.-brokered agreements of normalization with Israel. These were referred to as “The Abraham Accords”. Israel and two Gulf states share similar concerns regarding Iran and its allies in the region.

The plane carrying President Herzog flew above Saudi Arabia on its way to the UAE. He described it as a “truly moving moment”. Riyadh, Israel and Israel don’t have diplomatic relations. However Israel said that it is interested in establishing a relationship with Saudi Arabia which houses Islam’s most sacred sites.

In Israel, the presidency is mostly ceremonial. In December, Prime Minister Naftali Bennet visited Dubai.

The UAE’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the President upon his arrival.

The UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s de-facto ruler, received him at Al Watan Presidential Palace alongside UAE officials and ministers, according to the UAE state media WAM.

“I want…” [Sheikh Mohammed]”Well, I’m grateful to his courage and brave leadership in carving out a peaceful agreement with Israel and sending an message to the whole region that peace was the only option for their peoples,” Herzog stated earlier.

He will also be meeting with representatives of the UAE Jewish community, which serves as the region’s main commercial and tourist hub.

A letter sent Tuesday by Israel’s leader, it was revealed that Israel offered intelligence and security support for the UAE on January 18th in response to deadly drone attack by Yemen’s Iran aligned Houthi terrorist group.