Saudi Arabia Officially Announces: Welcome to the Israeli Air Force

Continuing with its decision to open its airspace, last Monday, to the first flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi for an Israeli “El-Al” plane, Saudi Arabia officially announced that it would allow the fixed flight line between Israel and the Emirates. United Arab Emirates go through it. Yesterday, the official Saudi news agency (SPA) quoted an official source from the General Civil Aviation Authority, that “the authority’s approval was issued upon the request received from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority, which includes the desire to allow passage of the Kingdom’s airspace for flights arriving in the United Arab Emirates. And from them to all countries.

The Saudi move is part of the Kingdom’s implicit blessing of the recently announced Israeli-Emirati standardization agreement, and to facilitate the tasks of the direct flight line between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, as crossing Saudi airspace shortens the time of flight in more than 4 hours and reduces the cost of material for Israeli travelers, which is what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “breakthrough” for Tel Aviv. Despite all this, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Faisal bin Farhan, did not hesitate to repeat his country’s position regarding the “firmness” of its positions towards the Palestinian question, and that these positions “are not accepted. they will change by allowing Kingdom airspace to cross Kingdom airspace for flights arriving in the UAE and departing from it to all countries. ” Bin Farhan added that Riyadh “appreciates all efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative.”
The recent Saudi decision came shortly after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with the US President’s adviser for the Middle East and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as part of his tour of the Gulf states to pressure them. to follow the example of the United Arab Emirates. This is what Washington has been promoting, especially with regard to Saudi Arabia, which US President Donald Trump hopes to join the Israeli-UAE alliance. “Yes, I hope so,” Trump said, in response to a question asked during a press conference at the White House about whether he expects Riyadh to join the deal, adding that “there are countries that don’t pass him by. the head that will join the deal. ”

Riyadh has reiterated its rejection of the “firmness” of its positions towards the Palestinian cause

In a related context, Egypt yesterday renewed its support for the Israeli-Emirati agreement, calling it a “step in the right direction,” as stated in a telephone conversation between Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. According to a statement by a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, Sisi expressed “Egypt’s support for any step that brings peace to the region, in a way that preserves the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, allows the establishment of their independent state and provides security to Israel. ” Although negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel have been suspended for years, even before the announcement of the “deal of the century” or Israel’s announcement of its decision to annex areas of the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley, and despite In the occupation’s continued attempts to establish the status quo in those areas through settlement expansion, Al-Sisi linked the importance of “not taking unilateral action by Israel, especially refraining from annexing Palestinian lands” and “leaving room for concerted efforts among the various regional and international parties to unleash the current deadlock on the Palestinian issue, and to press for the resumption of negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli parties. ».

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