Ben Gurion International airport
Ben Gurion International airportAvi Dishi/Flash90

Israel is expected in the coming days to declare the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a "green" country from which returning Israelis do not need to quarantine, three senior officials involved in the matter told Walla!'s Barak Ravid.

On Monday, a large Israeli delegation will fly to the UAE, led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat.

The delegation will include the director-generals of the Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Health Ministry, and the Regional Coordination Ministry.

The senior officials stressed that a final decision on the matter has not yet been made, but that it is estimated that the tendency is a positive one and that a decision to declare the UAE a "green" country will be made before the Israeli delegation arrives in Abu Dhabi, Ravid added.

Currently, the UAE's coronavirus infection rate is very low compared to Israel's: In the past few days, the UAE conducted 70,000 coronavirus tests each day, with just 300-350 coming out positive. These positive tests represent 0.5% of tests, compared to Israel's 8-9% positive test rates.