The Israeli-run municipality of Jerusalem has recruited companies from the United Arab Emirates to invest in a modern industrial park, called Silicon Wadi, in the city's occupied east. However Palestinian urban planning experts have told Middle East Eye that the plans and the UAE's involvement has been kept unusually under wraps.
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Israel's deputy mayor of Jerusalem, told Makor Rishon newspaper that "Jerusalem's branding in the UAE is very strong. They are very excited to see someone from Jerusalem and waiting to visit there." Israel and the United Arab Emirates have been building official ties since August 2020, when they announced a normalization of relations.
via Associated PressHassan-Nahoum, who visited the UAE last week, is in charge of the foreign relations and tourism portfolios on behalf of the municipality. My dream is that Jerusalem will become a high-tech center for the entire Middle East,” she said, adding that there an “opportunity” to connect Palestinian high-tech graduates to the UAE.
The project, which was announced in January by the mayor, Moshe Lion, is ambitious. According to Israeli media, it will 
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