Now they've normalised relations, Israel and the UAE are turning to areas of mutual interest - including tackling online threats.

The two countries face the same threats and have a lot to offer each other on the issue, Israel's cyber security chief said Thursday. 

Igal Unna made the comment during an online conference hosted by Tel Aviv university with his Emirati counterpart Mohamed al-Kuwaiti.

“We are threatened by the same threats, maybe even a little more than the rest of the world,” Mr Unna told the event. 

The two countries face similar risks because of “the nature of the region, because of the nature of our new, outed relations and because of who we are, economically and technologically strong nations”, he said.

“I think the UAE has a lot to offer to Israel, and I believe, I hope, that Israel can offer a lot to the UAE in the cyber security area,” he added.

The extent to which the two countries should work together on cyber security is like asking newlyweds how many children they wish to have, he said. “As many as [...] we can get.”

Mr Kuwaiti, meanwhile, praised Israel’s prowess in the technology sector and said closer ties could help the UAE on the path to “digital transformation.”

He also said Israel could provide a “new ecosystem” to tackle “many new attacks, many new things that we might not have seen previously.”

Israel's agreements with the UAE and Bahrain have raised hopes for closer ties between Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours, but Palestinian leaders have reacted with dismay.