The agreement was led by Rabbi Levi Duchman, and its aim is to launch the Abu Dhabi Hotels Kosher Certification Project, to officially certify the emirate’s hotels for serving kosher meals. The move comes after F&B outlets at hotels were instructed to include kosher food options on their room service and restaurant menus.

 The new agreement allows Abu Dhabi’s hotel industry to have access to free kosher certification services for one year. This initiative paves the way for Jewish tourists from various nationalities to visit the emirate, after the UAE’s historic peace accord and the normalisation of relations with Israel was signed, and will also serve to open up a whole host of new opportunities for the emirate.

 The certification demands all hotels and food and beverage outlets across the capital designate an area in their kitchens for kosher food preparation, as well as labelling kosher menu items with a clear, recognisable symbol that denotes ‘kosher’. The UAE capital’s flagship Emirates Palace has already become Abu Dhabi’s first hotel to have a Kosher certified kitchen to serve Kosher food. Kosher is a term used to describe food that complies with the dietary standards of traditional Jewish regulations.