Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he had spoken with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and they agreed to meet soon, without citing a specific date in a statement about their telephone conversation.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government unanimously approved the country's recently signed normalisation agreement with the United Arab Emirates on Monday ahead of a ratification vote by parliament.

Netanyahu said in his statement following his weekly cabinet meeting that he spoke over the weekend with the Abu Dhabi crown prince.

"We talked about co-operations that we are advancing in investment, tourism, energy, technology and other fields," Netanyahu told the cabinet, with Israeli and Emirati flags flanking the conference table.

"We will also cooperate and are already cooperating in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic."

Sheikh Mohammed, the UAEs day-to-day ruler, separately tweeted confirmation of the call on Monday, saying they discussed prospects for peace and the need for stability, cooperation and development in the region.

Netanyahu's office said it was the first conversation between the two leaders since the Sept 15 signing ceremony on the White House lawn he attended with the Emirates' foreign minister. The Knesset, Israel's unicameral national legislature, is slated to vote on ratifying the deal on Thursday.

Neighbouring Gulf monarchy Bahrain also signed an agreement on Sept 15 at the White House to normalise relations with Israel, making the UAE and Bahrain the third and fourth Arab states to establish ties with Israel. Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively.

The so-called "Abraham Accords" brought long-clandestine ties between Israel and several Gulf states – forged in recent years over a shared concern over regional rival Iran – into the open. The weeks since have seen a flurry of business, banking and intergovernmental agreements between the UAE and Israel, though moves toward normalisation have been slower in Bahrain.

The normalisation agreements have outraged the Palestinians, whose leaders have called the deals a betrayal of a longtime Arab stance that recognition of Israel would come only after Palestinians obtain an independent state of their own.