Hazzaa al-Mansouri, the United Arab Emirates’ first astronaut, revealed he took an Israeli flag on his first space mission two years ago, nearly a year before the Trump-led Abraham Accords were signed normalizing ties between the two countries.

The Emirati astronaut presented the same flag to delegates of the Israeli pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020, Ynet News reported.

Mansouri, the youngest F-16 pilot in the UAE Air Force, took a space flight the Soyuz MS-15 in September 2019.

“I am happy to be here and present this Israeli flag to the people here and the Israeli public,” Mansouri said while visiting the pavilion in his spacesuit.

“I took this flag with me two years ago on my first mission as an Emirati astronaut and this is my gift to all Israelis,” he added.

Josh Bendit, the head of the Israeli pavilion, said the visit showed Mansouri’s “genuine care.”
“The flag was delivered to us with a dedication. Mansouri came wearing his astronaut uniform and seemed excited. His visit shows how important he finds the UAE-Israeli relations.”
Mansouri said he planned to visit Israel as early as next month, if the current coronavirus epidemic would allow.