Today, Tuesday, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the General Authority of Civil Aviation as saying that it agreed to allow the passage of the Kingdom's airspace for flights coming to and departing from the UAE for all countries.
Based on the decision, flights between the UAE and Israel will be able to fly over Saudi Arabia, and the decision will reduce the flight period between the two countries by several hours.
The Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority stated that this decision, which comes weeks after the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel, was issued at the request of Abu Dhabi.
Without referring to Saudi Arabia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter that Israeli jets could fly directly to the UAE, tracing the flight path on a map and placing his finger over the kingdom.
And Western reports speak of an imminent normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The French News Agency reported that the decision constitutes an additional indication of a possible rapprochement between the Kingdom and Israel, despite Riyadh's emphasis on its rejection of normalization before reaching peace with the Palestinians.
Official comment
Shortly after the news was announced, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that the Kingdom's position in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital has not changed.
The minister wrote on Twitter, "The kingdom's firm and established stances towards the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people will not change by allowing the passage of the kingdom's airspace for flights coming to and departing from the United Arab Emirates to all countries."
He added, "The Kingdom appreciates all efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative."
UAE and Israel officials will allow their citizens to exchange visits, and they said that there will be direct flights between the two countries.
Those coming from Israel to the UAE will be able to travel to hundreds of destinations via Abu Dhabi and Dubai once the flights begin.
An Israeli El Al plane flew in Saudi airspace two days ago, heading to Abu Dhabi, with an American-Israeli delegation on board, to put the final touches to complete the normalization process between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.
The plane returned via the same path.
The sites for determining the routes of the aircraft showed the plane crossing the Saudi airspace and passing over the capital, Riyadh, but avoiding the airspace of Bahrain and Qatar.