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Abu Dhabi:
A US-Israeli delegation led by White House advisor Jared Kushner arrived Monday in Abu Dhabi, on the historic first business flight from Tel Aviv to mark the normalisation of ties between the Jewish state and the UAE.
The phrase “peace” was written in Arabic, English and Hebrew on the cockpit of the El Al flight that landed on the VIP terminal within the Emirates capital the place US flags flew alongside the Star of David banner.
“While this is a historic flight, we hope that it will start an even more historic journey in the Middle East and beyond,” Kushner, who’s President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a key architect of his Middle East coverage, mentioned earlier than boarding.
“The future does not have to be predetermined by the past. This is a very hopeful time.”
Saudi Arabia allowed the “historic” flight to cross its airspace, Kushner mentioned at Abu Dhabi shortly after the flight landed. “This is the first time this has ever happened. I would like to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for making that possible.”
The landmark direct flight by Israel’s nationwide provider, numbered LY971 in a nod to the UAE’s worldwide dialling code, is because of return on Tuesday with the quantity 972, matching Israel’s dialling code.
The settlement to normalise ties was introduced by Trump on August 13, making the UAE the primary Gulf nation and solely the third Arab nation to ascertain relations with Israel.
Unlike Egypt, which made peace with its former battlefield enemy in 1979, and Jordan, which adopted in 1994, the UAE has by no means fought a conflict with Israel.
The reality the flight additionally handed by means of Saudi airspace was an indication of Riyadh’s cooperation with Israel after the dominion refused publicly to normalise relations.
However, it skirted the Gulf states of Qatar and Bahrain who’ve declined to this point to observe the UAE’s transfer, which has been met with criticism in some components of the Arab world.
Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat, who was additionally on the flight to the UAE, mentioned “our goal is to achieve a joint working plan to advance relations in a very broad range of areas.
“This morning, the standard blessing ‘go in peace’ receives particular which means for us,” he was quoted as saying in an English-language government statement.
“Sparks fly”
The talks in Abu Dhabi aim to boost cooperation between the two regional economic powerhouses in areas including aviation, tourism, trade, health, energy and security.
An Israeli government statement said there would be “working conferences of joint groups on a spread of points forward of the signing of cooperation agreements within the civil and financial spheres”.
The visit will also include a meeting between Kushner, Ben-Shabbat and UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, it said.
Israel’s health ministry had late Sunday updated its list of “inexperienced nations” with low coronavirus infection rates to include the UAE and eight other countries.
The change meant the Israeli officials and journalists travelling to Abu Dhabi would be exempted from a 14-day quarantine upon return.
Since the agreement between the UAE and Israel was unveiled, there have been phone calls between their ministers, and on Saturday the Emirates in a new milestone repealed a 1972 law boycotting Israel.
“It might be permissible to enter, alternate or possess Israeli items and merchandise of all types within the UAE and commerce in them,” read a decree issued by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking alongside Kushner in Jerusalem on Sunday, praised “the swift tempo of normalisation” between his country and the UAE.
Noting the UAE’s move from Saturday, Netanyahu said it “opens the door” for “unbridled commerce, tourism, investments, exchanges between the Middle East’s two most superior economies”.
“You will see how the sparks fly on this. It’s already taking place,” he said, predicting that “at the moment’s breakthroughs will turn out to be tomorrow’s norms. It will pave the best way for different nations to normalise their ties with Israel.”
“There are many extra unpublicised conferences with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalise relations with the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said without naming any countries.
As part of the normalisation agreement, Israel agreed to suspend its planned annexations in the occupied West Bank, although Netanyahu quickly insisted the plans remained on the table in the long run.
The Palestinians dubbed the UAE’s agreement with Israel a “stab within the again” because it opens components of the Arab world to the Jewish state whereas their very own battle stays unresolved.
Saudi Arabia, in line with many years of coverage by most Arab states, says it won’t observe the UAE’s instance till Israel has signed a peace cope with the Palestinians establishing an impartial Palestinian state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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