At these moments, an Israeli plane, bound for the UAE, takes off via Saudi airspace, carrying the joint American-Israeli delegation to normalize relations between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.
The joint delegation is headed by the US President’s Special Adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and includes senior Israeli officials, most notably the Chairman of the National Security Council, Meir Ben Shabat.
The flight carries the number (971), which is the international symbol of the United Arab Emirates.
The El Al plane will take off from Ben Gurion Airport (Lod) at 10:30, and land at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Passengers on the flight began to board the plane, and the boarding passes were marked "We make our history."
The Israeli Channel 12 said that the flight will pass through a special path over Saudi airspace, so it was decided to use a Boeing 737-900 equipped with a shoulder-fired missile defense system.
This trip acquires special importance as it comes within the framework of arrangements, finalizing the agreement to normalize relations between the UAE and Israel, and also because it is the first commercial flight of Israeli shipping lines to cross Saudi airspace.
Because it will cross Saudi airspace, the flight will take only 3 hours instead of 8 hours.
The Israeli government "Kan" channel stated - Sunday - that Saudi Arabia had agreed in principle to the passage of the plane, which will carry an Israeli delegation to the UAE on Monday, through its airspace.
After the announcement of the normalization agreement with the Emirates, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that the agreement includes direct flights between Tel Aviv and the UAE airports, via Saudi airspace.
According to American reports, Kushner aims in the first place to persuade Arab leaders to participate in a ceremony that will be hosted by the White House next October, to mark the completion of normalization between the UAE and Israel.
The United Arab Emirates preempted the arrival of Jared Kushner by issuing a decree ending its commercial boycott of Israel, days after announcing the establishment of relations between the two sides.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that Jared Kushner seeks to persuade Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to participate in the signing ceremony of the Israeli-Emirati normalization agreement in Washington.