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An Israeli delegation left Abu Dhabi today, Tuesday, after a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates during which it was agreed to start cooperation in various areas between the two countries, pending the signing of the final normalization agreement in the White House in a few weeks.
The plane took off from the UAE capital and returned to Israel around 11:07 GMT, with the Israeli delegation headed by National Security Advisor Meir Bin Shabat on board.
The plane that arrived on Monday from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv and crossed Saudi airspace into Abu Dhabi with the approval of the Kingdom’s authorities, is the first commercial flight between the two countries that seeks to reap the fruits of normalization. economically quickly.
In addition to the Israeli delegation, the plane carried an American delegation headed by the adviser and son-in-law of the president of the United States, Jared Kushner. It was unclear whether the US official returned with the Israeli delegation or would visit another destination in the region.
On August 13, 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced an agreement brokered by the United States to normalize relations between them, after years of rapprochement between the two countries, in a maneuver that the Palestinians considered a “betrayal” of their cause.
Thus, the UAE became the first Gulf country and the third Arab country to normalize its relations with Israel after Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994).
As part of the normalization agreement, Israel agreed to suspend the annexation of new lands in the occupied West Bank, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that it did not deviate from that in the long term.
On Monday, Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said about the flight: It is very painful for us, and today we see the landing of an Israeli plane in the UAE called the Kiryat Ghat colony.
The word “peace” was written in Arabic, Hebrew and English on the nose of the plane, above the name of the settlement.
The first flight of the Israeli airline El Al carried the code 971, which is the international contact number for the Emirates, while the return flight carried the international contact number 972 for Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday: “It is a historic day. We dream it and we work to achieve it, and it is before our eyes.”
Memorandum of understanding
Israel and the UAE are supposed to sign the normalization agreement, which was born under the auspices of the administration of US President Donald Trump, at the White House within a few weeks, in the presence of the leaders of the two. countries.
In Abu Dhabi, Emirati officials agreed with their Israeli counterparts on Monday to begin “discussing prospects for bilateral cooperation” in key areas, according to a joint Emirati-US-Israeli statement.
These areas are “investment, finance, health, civil space program, civil aviation, foreign policy and diplomatic affairs, tourism and culture.”
The official Emirati news agency announced that Abdul Hamid Muhammad Saeed Al-Ahmadi, Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, and Ronen Barts, Director General of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, signed a memorandum of understanding for the ” future cooperation in the banking and financial sector “.
The two sides agreed to “form working groups and bilateral committees to facilitate banking activities.”
An official of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that: We are at the beginning of a historic process, and we intend to strengthen the establishment of full diplomatic relations and open embassies in both countries as soon as possible, and work to strengthen bilateral cooperation, adding that : The exchange of people, goods and capital between countries is the key to reach the potential Relationship.
For his part, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry told the English version of the website of the Saudi channel “Al Arabiya”: Direct flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates may begin at the end of 2020.
The Emirati-Israeli agreement received a limited reception in the Arab world, specifically by Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman, while Saudi Arabia emphasized, despite indications of a possible rapprochement with Israel, that there is no normalization with the state. Hebrew before the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on his Twitter account that the United Arab Emirates “betrayed the Islamic world” by normalizing its relations with Israel, adding: “This betrayal will not last long, but its stigma it will remain on their foreheads. “
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