<\/p>\n
One after another, eight containers filled with electronics, cleaning supplies, iron and firefighting equipment were unloaded off the MSC Paris, one of the first cargo ships to make the voyage between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Just a few months ago, such a journey from Dubai\u2019s Jebel Ali port to the northern Israeli port city of Haifa would have been unthinkable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The countries announced a normalization deal in August which laid the ground for a potentially profitable new trade route.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The diplomatic breakthrough stemmed from a strategic realignment of Middle East nations, in particular Israel and Gulf Arab nations led by Sunni rulers, who face what they perceive as a shared threat from Iran.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But it is also grounded in economics and potential collaborations in the fields of business, investment and technology.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Israeli officials have estimated bilateral trade could reach as much as $4 billion a year \u2013 and nearly all goods will have to travel by sea.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a new era in the Middle East,\u201d said Eshel Armony, chairman of the board at Haifa Port.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to see this line once a week by MSC and, who knows, later on maybe we\u2019ll have even more \u2026 I hope that will happen quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said trade with the UAE was the \u201cbeginning of something huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cToday a cargo ship came from Dubai. With goods. Goods that by the way are very cheap and will benefit Israelis,\u201d he said in a speech to parliament.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An MSC spokesman added that it was the first time containers originating in the UAE had been discharged in Haifa on one of their ships.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The spokesman said the MSC Paris was part of its Indus Express service, which originates in the United Arab Emirates and calls at Indian ports, the Mediterranean and the United States.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An MSC vessel on the Indus Express service made a low-profile stop in Haifa in mid-September, before the UAE-Israel normalization deal was signed in a high-profile ceremony hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 15. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Jonathan Saul in London; Additional reporting by Rami Amichay in Haifa; Editing by Janet Lawrence, Kirsten Donovan)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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