This afternoon, the first Israeli plane landed at Abu Dhabi airport in the first public flight between the two parties, carrying Israeli and American personalities and officials, and crossed over Saudi airspace with the permission of its authorities.

The plane took off from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with an Israeli-American delegation headed by Jared Kushner, son-in-law and advisor to US President Donald Trump, about three weeks after the announcement of an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE.

According to the sites of determining the routes of the aircraft, the plane crossed the airspace of Saudi Arabia, which says it refuses to normalize relations with Israel before reaching peace with the Palestinians, in the first declared flight of an Israeli airline that travels over the Kingdom's skies.

But it avoided the airspace of Bahrain and Qatar.

Kushner (right) and Bin Shabat (center) speak to the press after their arrival at Abu Dhabi airport (Reuters)

Kushner thanks Saudi Arabia

The flight of the Israeli El Al company bears the code “LY 971, which is the international calling number for the Emirates, and has written on the outside structure of the cockpit the word“ peace ”in Arabic, Hebrew and English. On Tuesday, the return flight will carry the international contact number 972 for Israel.

The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Saudi Arabia had agreed to the plane's passage through its airspace, while there was no comment from the Kingdom about that.

In turn, Kushner thanked Saudi Arabia for allowing the Israeli plane to cross its airspace.

"The other historic matter is Saudi Arabia's permission to cross this plane over its airspace, and this is the first time that this happens. I would like to thank Saudi Arabia for making this possible," he said after arriving at Abu Dhabi airport.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that work is underway to enable direct Israeli flights to pass over Saudi Arabia.

The Israeli plane arrives at Abu Dhabi airport (Reuters)

The beginning of a "historical path"

Prior to the start of the trip, Kushner said he hoped the trip would be the beginning of "a historic path in the Middle East."

"We hope that this historic journey will be the beginning of a historic path in the Middle East and beyond," he said at Ben Gurion Airport.

He added, "The past should not define the shape of the future (...) This time is very hopeful, and I believe that peace and prosperity is possible in this region and around the world."

At Abu Dhabi airport, Kushner said, "The United States can maintain Israel's qualitative military edge and strengthen its relations with the UAE at the same time."

The US delegation, other than Kushner, includes US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, the US National Security Council’s senior adviser for Middle East and North Africa affairs Rob Greenway, US representative for international negotiations Avi Berkovets, responsible for the Iran file in the US administration, Brian Hook, and CEO of the International Development Finance Corporation. Adam Buhler.

As for the Israeli side in the delegation, it is headed by National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabat and includes about twenty officials who are close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Bin Shabat expressed his pride in his presence in Abu Dhabi and said that "the leader of the Emirates has taken a courageous step."

The American Israeli delegation is on board the plane before its departure from Ben Gurion Airport (Reuters)

Meetings to enhance cooperation

The US-Israeli delegation will meet Emirati officials for two days to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in areas including aviation, tourism, trade, health, energy and security.

Ofer Gendelman, a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, said in a tweet on Twitter that the plane was carrying "a large Israeli delegation that will discuss with the Emirati side the launch of cooperation between the two countries, in many areas, including trade, tourism, economy, aviation and culture."

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office revealed that a tripartite Israeli-Emirati-American meeting will be held in Abu Dhabi with the participation of Kushner, Bin Shabat and O'Brien, and the Emirati National Security Adviser Tahnoun bin Zayed.

On August 13, 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced an agreement mediated by the United States to normalize relations between them, after years of rapprochement between the two countries, in a move 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).

In June, an Emirati Etihad Airways plane landed in Tel Aviv carrying medical aid for the Palestinians to confront the Covid-19 epidemic, but it was not considered a commercial flight, and the Palestinian Authority refused this aid, saying that the flight was carried out without coordination with it.