Yesterday, Tuesday, Israel extended a deadline that could have stopped Israeli airlines' flights to the UAE after a security dispute over aviation, but Israel warned of a potential crisis with the Gulf state unless the conflict was resolved.
The direct flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai for the Israeli airlines "El Al", "Israir" and "Arkia" are among the results of a 2020 agreement to establish relations between Israel and the UAE.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have visited Dubai - the commercial hub of the Emirates - since then.
However, the Israeli Internal Security Service (Shin Bet) expressed concerns, about which he did not announce any details, about arrangements at Dubai International Airport, and said that the three Israeli airlines would stop their flights there unless a solution was found.
Those arrangements were scheduled to expire on Tuesday, but a senior Israeli official said that Transport Minister Merav Michael extended the deadline by about a month to make it possible to continue negotiations between the two sides.
The extension of the deadline coincided with increasing Israeli pressure on the UAE to remove the causes of its concerns.
And the senior Israeli official said that if the flights of Israeli airlines eventually stopped, this would be the de facto end of UAE operations, and would be a reason for reciprocity.
huge effects
"If El Al can't fly to Dubai, UAE airlines won't be able to land here," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Emirates airline, Flydubai, also operates direct flights to Tel Aviv from Dubai, and Emirates Airlines in Dubai and Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi are eager to operate flights to Israel.
The Israeli official said that "the crisis could be regional, not just bilateral," referring to the UAE's pivotal role in the Abrahamic agreements concluded under the auspices of the United States with the aim of normalizing relations between Israel and a number of Arab countries, adding that "it may have an impact (the crisis) huge".
Israel rarely publishes its security measures in the field of aviation, however, it is possible that these measures include the use of special places in the airports or even separate corridors, stopping Israeli planes with Israeli escorts, and possibly the presence of armed guards on the planes.
The Shin Bet had previously indicated the possibility of diverting Israeli flights to Abu Dhabi, but the Israeli official ruled this out, saying that Abu Dhabi attracts fewer travelers.
"Abu Dhabi may be a choice from a security point of view, but it is not an economic choice," the official said.