Emirates: A group of Emirati and Israeli women met in Dubai for the first time, in a meeting held as part of the Gulf-Israel Women’s Forum.

The group, co-founded by Jerusalem’s Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum and the co-founder of the Jewish Women’s Business Network Justine Zwerling, is a division of the newly formed UAE-Israel Business Council.

“I believe that women are natural peace builders. We created the Gulf-Israel Women’s Forum in order to facilitate people-to-people, grassroots peace building,” Hassan-Nahoum said.

“It was an honor to host this very memorable and historic meeting of Israeli and Emirati women in Dubai, creating bonds and making a better future for our children.”

The UAE-Israel Business Council, which was founded in June, has grown to almost 2,000 members since the announcement in August of the UAE and Israel normalizing relations, according to Hassan-Nahoum.

To date there are 250 Israeli companies trading with the UAE, and the council aims to help increase that number over the next couple of years.

In September, the energy ministers and tourism officials from the UAE and Israel discussed possible cooperation, travel opportunities and investment openings.

Also in September, Dubai’s Al-Habtoor Group announced plans to open a representative office in Israel, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office said it will open its first office outside the UAE in the city of Tel Aviv.