Michal Divon is a trailblazer: the first Israeli journalist to work for an Emirati newspaper.

The ink was barely dry on the September 2020 Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE when she started her own YouTube interview series with some of the key players involved in the deal.

Having previously covered Israel’s Operation Protective Edge — the 2014 Gaza War — for 50 days running, she said the accords felt “just as important, if not more”.

She added: “I just realised this is what I have to be covering. If there’s a moment or events in my life I have to be covering, this is it. It’s really the only thing that interested me from the moment it was announced.”

Although she was working in the US in local news, weeks after the landmark agreement she was interviewing a rabbi based in Dubai who invited her to spend Sukkot there. During that visit she took on work reporting for various Israeli news outlets.

What started out as an impulsive visit soon turned into an exciting new chapter in Michal’s life. Accepting the role of senior editor and producer for Khaleej Times, the UAE’s longest-running English language daily newspaper, she became the first Israeli journalist to live and work there and she and her husband Nadav Trenter Moser left their former home in New York for good.

Her parents were supportive; her father served in Israel’s foreign ministry for decades as an ambassador. She said: “They had an eclectic group of friends including friends from the Arab world. They also have always hoped for peace, so they were happy to see me be part of it. It’s my parents upbringing that made me so open to other cultures.”

Michal believes there is widespread popular support in the UAE for the accords. “If some people weren’t 100 per cent sure about the Abraham Accords, their trust in the leadership is so strong they knew that if this is the decision being taken, it must be good for everyone,” she said. She was open about her identity from the moment she arrived: “There have been people in the Jewish community who have lived here for 10 years or even more and they’ve always done everything secretly or under the radar.” 

But after the Accords were signed, she says the Emiratis did a lot “to ensure different religions feel comfortable. There’s a lot of tolerance here and there is religious pluralism.”

As more Israelis and Jews came to the UAE, they too felt increasingly comfortable being open about their religion and identity.

“There was this new story not only about the Abraham Accords but also about the Jewish community which needed to be covered. It’s expected that you bridge the knowledge gap and shed a light on Jewish rituals and what this community represents; just to make it normal — to normalise.”

She studied international relations in Israel before joining Israel’s first rolling news channel, i24 News, at its launch, later moving to New York to work in TV news there.

Michal accepts that the UAE is markedly different from Israel or America, where she worked previously: it is not a democracy and some visitors find themselves at the rough end of the tribal autocracy’s authoritarian rules.

“Journalism here is different,” she said, and the state media newspaper gets to “set the tone… making sure it’s the right narrative. No one ever came and told me, ‘You can’t do this’ or, ‘You’re not allowed to write about that.’ But it is very different from Israel. And trust is really important.”

Despite these differences, she says most visitors find the benefits outweigh the downsides. “Does that mean it’s the best place on earth? No, it just means they have better opportunities here than where they came from. And that’s what this place is built on.” 

Michal’s love for the UAE has even transformed her wardrobe. 

When she arrived she admired the abayas worn by local women so much that she now wears them herself. 

“Once I tried it on, I never wanted to take it off. It’s very comfortable and such an elegant look.”

She added: “It’s so beautiful to be able to practice Judaism and be an active member of the Jewish community while living in an Arab country and enjoying the local culture.”

“I don’t have kids yet, so I would love for my kids to be born here. There’s already a Jewish nursery called Mini Miracles, and there’s even a mikveh.”