Authorities have removed a historic block on phone lines for people trying to call numbers with the +972 Israeli country code from the UAE and allowed citizens to view some Israeli websites. No one has been able to call Israel directly since the founding of the UAE in 1971.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan called his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, to mark the occasion.

Mr Ashkenazi later tweeted that the two sides ‘decided together on the establishment of a direct communication channel ahead of the signing of the normalisation agreement between the two countries and… to meet soon.’

Journalists working in the two countries had realised earlier that they could call each other from landline and mobile phones, although it is not exactly clear when the block was removed.

Previously anyone trying to call out of the UAE to Israel would hear a recorded message in Arabic and English to say calls to the country could not be connected.

Many had tried to get around the ban with the advent of internet calling, although these were often interrupted. Some in Israel used Palestinian mobile phone numbers, which the UAE could call.

People in the UAE also found they could access Israeli news websites for the first time today including the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post and YNet. Previously these could only be seen by using tools to hide your location.

The new developments represents the first practical steps in thawing relations between the Emiratis and Israelis after Thursday’s historic deal Israel and the UAE announced that they were establishing full diplomatic relations in a US-brokered deal that required Israel to halt its plan to annex occupied West Bank land sought by the Palestinians.

The agreement delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election, and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about arch enemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.

It makes the UAE the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to have full, active diplomatic ties with Israel. The joint statement said deals between Israel and the UAE were expected in the coming weeks in areas such as tourism, direct flights, and embassies.

The two sides are expected the sign the accord in Washington in three weeks’ time.

Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Handel issued a statement ‘congratulating the United Arab Emirates on removing the blocks.’

‘Many economic opportunities will open now, and these trust-building steps are an important step toward advancing states’ interests,’ Handel said.

For Dubai’s small expatriate Jewish community, which has worshipped for years at an unmarked villa in this city-state, the calls represented so much more than just the convenience of being able to directly dial loved ones in Israel.

‘There’s a sense of a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle, as all of these hurdles fall away and people at last can come together and start talking,’ Ross Kriel, the president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, said.