Search form

You are here

  • Home
  • US-Israeli delegation lands in Abu Dhabi on historic flight


Opinion

Yossi Mekelberg

Israel and the UAE show they mean business

Author
Read article

US-Israeli delegation lands in Abu Dhabi on historic flight

1 / 8
US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien delivers a speech, as part of an Israeli-American delegation, in the first-ever commercial flight from Israel to the UAE, on August 31, 2020. (AFP)
2 / 8
US Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner, center, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, right, and Head of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat aboard Flight LY971 to Abu Dhabi. (AFP)
3 / 8
US Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner, center, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, right, and Head of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat board El Al’s flight LY971 to Abu Dhabi. (AFP)
4 / 8
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien and US President Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner prepare to board a flight with an Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi. (Reuters)
5 / 8
Above, a screen displaying the flight number of Israeli flag carrier El Al which will carry Israeli and US delegations to Abu Dhabi at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv on August 31, 2020. (Reuters)
6 / 8
A seat cover reading in Arabic, English and Hebrew ‘making in history’ inside Israeli flag carrier El Al’s Flight LY971 to Abu Dhabi in the UAE. (Reuters)
7 / 8
A passenger aboard the historic Flight LY971 shows a facemask with the #UAE and #Israel flags emblazoned on it, as well as a ‘peace swag.’ (Twitter: @RaphaelAhren)
8 / 8
A passenger aboard the historic Flight LY971 shows what he describes as a ‘peace swag.’ (Twitter: @RaphaelAhren)
Short Url

https://arab.news/j7rfc

Updated 31 August 2020
AFP
Follow

US-Israeli delegation lands in Abu Dhabi on historic flight

  • Jared Kushner: ‘While this is a historic flight, we hope that it will start an even more historic journey in the Middle East and beyond’
  • “Peace” was written in Arabic, English and Hebrew on the cockpit of the El Al flight
Updated 31 August 2020
AFP

ABU DHABI: A US-Israeli delegation led by White House adviser Jared Kushner arrived Monday in Abu Dhabi, on the historic first commercial flight from Tel Aviv to mark the normalization of ties between the Jewish state and the UAE.

The word “peace” was written in Arabic, English and Hebrew on the cockpit of the El Al flight that landed at the VIP terminal in the Emirates capital where 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 is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a key architect of his Middle East policy, said before boarding.

“The future does not have to be predetermined by the past. This is a very hopeful time.”

The landmark direct flight by Israel’s national carrier, numbered LY971 in a nod to the UAE’s international dialing code, is due to return on Tuesday with the number 972, matching Israel’s dialing code.

The agreement to normalize ties was announced by Trump on Aug. 13, making the UAE the first Gulf country and only the third Arab nation to establish relations with Israel.

Unlike Egypt, which made peace with its former battlefield enemy in 1979, and Jordan, which followed in 1994, the UAE has never fought a war with Israel.

Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, who was also on the flight to the UAE, said “our goal is to achieve a joint working plan to advance relations in a very broad range of areas.

Opinion

This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)

“This morning, the traditional blessing ‘go in peace’ receives special meaning for us,” he was quoted as saying in an English-language government statement.

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 meetings of joint teams on a range of issues ahead of the signing of cooperation agreements in the civil and economic spheres.”

The visit will also include a meeting between Kushner, Ben-Shabbat and UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, it said.

Israel’s health ministry had late Sunday updated its list of “green countries” with low coronavirus infection rates to include the UAE and eight other countries.

The change meant the Israeli officials and journalists traveling 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.

PICTURE GALLERY: Take a look at photos of the historic Flight LY971

“It will be permissible to enter, exchange or possess Israeli goods and products of all kinds in the UAE and trade 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 pace of normalization” between his country and the UAE.

Noting the UAE’s move from Saturday, Netanyahu said it “opens the door” for “unbridled trade, tourism, investments, exchanges between the Middle East’s two most advanced economies.”

“You will see how the sparks fly on this. It’s already happening,” he said, predicting that “today’s breakthroughs will become tomorrow’s norms. It will pave the way for other countries to normalize their ties with Israel.”

“There are many more unpublicized meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalize relations with the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said without naming any countries.

As part of the normalization 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 in the back” as it opens parts of the Arab world to the Jewish state while their own conflict remains unresolved.

Saudi Arabia, in keeping with decades of policy by most Arab states, says it will not follow the UAE’s example until Israel has signed a peace deal with the Palestinians establishing an independent Palestinian state.

* with Reuters

Topics: UAE-Israel relations Israel US

Related

Middle-East
Kushner hopes for more Arab, Muslim partners for Israel ahead of UAE visit
Middle-East
UAE and Israel discuss cooperation in food and water security

Sudan’s RSF says seizes back control of key Darfur base from army allies

Updated 7 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

Sudan’s RSF says seizes back control of key Darfur base from army allies

  • Dozens of RSF soldiers were killed, vehicles destroyed and supplies captured as they captured the base, they said
Updated 7 sec ago
Reuters

DUBAI/CAIRO: Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized back control of a key logistical base in North Darfur on Sunday, the paramilitary group said, a day after it was taken by rival forces allied with Sudan’s army.
The conflict between the RSF and the army erupted in April 2023, and some of the fiercest fighting has taken place in North Darfur as the army and allied Joint Forces — a collection of former rebel groups — battle to maintain a last foothold in the wider Darfur region.
The Joint Forces and the army said in statements they had taken control on Saturday of the Al-Zurug base, which the RSF has used during the 20-month war as a logistical base to channel supplies from over the nearby borders with Chad and Libya.
Dozens of RSF soldiers were killed, vehicles destroyed and supplies captured as they captured the base, they said.
The incident could inflame ethnic tensions between the Arab tribes that form the base of the RSF and the Zaghawa tribe that forms most of the Joint Forces, analysts say.
The RSF accused Joint Forces fighters of killing civilians and burning down nearby homes and public amenities during the raid.
“The Joint Forces carried out ethnic cleansing against innocent civilians in Al-Zurug and intentionally killed children, women, and the elderly and burnt and destroyed wells and markets and homes and the health center and schools,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
The Joint Forces said the base had been used by the RSF as a “launching point for barbaric operations against civilians” in areas including Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state and one of the most active frontlines in the fighting.
Since fighting picked up in Al-Fashir in mid-April, at least 782 civilians have been killed, according to a UN human rights report, the result of attacks via “intense” heavy artillery and suicide drones from the RSF and airstrikes and artillery strikes by the army.
On Sunday, activists from the Al-Fashir Resistance Committee reported an onslaught of at least 30 missiles fired on different parts of the city.
Seizing control of the city would bolster the RSF’s attempt to install a parallel government to the national government in Port Sudan, analysts say.

 

Topics: Sudan conflict Sudan army Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

Related

Middle-East
As flooding becomes a yearly disaster in South Sudan, thousands survive on the edge of a canal
World
US State Department imposes visa restrictions on multiple people in South Sudan

Jordanian minister criticizes ‘sensational’ reporting of Middle East events

Updated 5 min 47 sec ago
Arab News
Follow

Jordanian minister criticizes ‘sensational’ reporting of Middle East events

  • Mohammad Momani stressed the importance of obtaining verified information
  • He said media freedom should not be misused to distort regional events
Updated 5 min 47 sec ago
Arab News

LONDON: Jordanian Minister of Government Communication Mohammad Momani emphasized the importance of professionalism and accuracy in reporting Middle Eastern events during a meeting with local, Arab and international media representatives on Sunday.

Momani said that a few international media outlets “sensationalize” regional events at the cost of accuracy, arguing that “this does not serve the public and undermines professional standards.”

He discussed with media representatives the importance of obtaining verified information to ensure accuracy, serve public opinion and uphold the right to knowledge, the official Jordanian news agency, Petra, reported.

Over the past year, some Western media outlets reporting on the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and the conflict with Lebanon, as well as the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, have investigated some details in the stories they ran.

CNN investigated a recent video report that captures the moment a Syrian prisoner was freed from a secretive prison in Damascus. Critics have claimed that the report was staged and that the man featured in the CNN video was not who he claimed to be.

Momani said that media freedom should not be misused to distort regional circumstances or promote political and ideological agendas, Petra added.

He called on media outlets in Jordan to report on the country’s political and security realities professionally, accurately representing the event in all its aspects while rejecting false or misleading narratives.

Momani said that the Jordanian government was dedicated to transparency and communication with media representatives, including Arab, international and local outlets.

He praised the professional reporting on regional events by Jordanian state agencies and commended the country’s balanced political stance and commitment to stability.

Jordan’s Ministry of Government Communication regularly holds meetings and briefings to enhance communication with media representatives in Jordan.

Topics: Jordan

Related

Update video
Middle-East
Turkiye’s top diplomat meets Syria’s new leader in Damascus
Media
Media watchdog condemns Israel over killing of 4 Gaza journalists, demands accountability

Weakened Iran could pursue nuclear weapon, White House’s Sullivan says

Updated 8 sec ago
(AFP)
Follow

Weakened Iran could pursue nuclear weapon, White House’s Sullivan says

Updated 8 sec ago
(AFP)

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump’s team on the risk.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel’s assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
“It’s no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, ‘Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now ... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine’,” Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
“It’s a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It’s a risk that I’m personally briefing the incoming team on,” Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with US ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hard-line Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran’s oil industry. Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran’s “weakened state.”
“Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran’s nuclear ambitions for the long term,” he said.

Topics: Iran US Jake Sullivan

Related

video
Middle-East
Iran’s supreme leader says Syrian youth will resist incoming government

Netanyahu says Israel will continue to act against the Houthis

Updated 22 December 2024
Reuters
Follow

Netanyahu says Israel will continue to act against the Houthis

  • On Thursday, Israeli jets launched a series of strikes against energy and port infrastructure in Yemen
  • Response to hundreds of missile and drone attacks launched by Houthis since start of Gaza war
Updated 22 December 2024
Reuters

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel would continue acting against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, whom he accused of threatening world shipping and the international order, and called on Israelis to be steadfast.
“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis,” he said in a video statement a day after a missile fired from Yemen fell in the Tel Aviv area, causing a number of mild injuries.
On Thursday, Israeli jets launched a series of strikes against energy and port infrastructure in Yemen in a move officials said was a response to hundreds of missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis since the start of the Gaza war 14 months ago.
On Saturday, the US military said it conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Houthis in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
Netanyahu, strengthened at home by the Israeli military’s campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and by its destruction of most of the Syrian army’s strategic weapons, said Israel would act with the United States.
“Therefore, we will act with strength, determination and sophistication. I tell you that even if it takes time, the result will be the same,” he said.
The Houthis have launched repeated attacks on international shipping in waters near Yemen since November 2023, in support of the Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.

Topics: War on Gaza Israel Palestine Yemen Gaza Houthis

Related

video
Middle-East
American pilots in ‘friendly fire’ incident as US military hits Houthi targets in Sanaa
Update video
Middle-East
Yemen’s Houthis say Israeli strikes kill 9 after missile attack

Iraq PM says Mosul airport to open in June, 11 years after Daesh capture

Updated 22 December 2024
AFP
Follow

Iraq PM says Mosul airport to open in June, 11 years after Daesh capture

  • On June 10, 2014, the Daesh group seized Mosul
Updated 22 December 2024
AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Sunday ordered for the inauguration of the airport in second city Mosul to be held in June, marking 11 years since Islamists took over the city.
On June 10, 2014, the Daesh group seized Mosul, declaring its “caliphate” from there 19 days later after capturing large swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria.
After years of fierce battles, Iraqi forces backed by a US-led international coalition dislodged the group from Mosul in July 2017, before declaring its defeat across the country at the end of that year.
In a Sunday statement, Sudani’s office said the premier directed during a visit there “for the airport’s opening to be on June 10, coinciding with the anniversary of Mosul’s occupation, as a message of defiance in the face of terrorism.”
Over 80 percent of the airport’s runway and terminals have been completed, according to the statement.
Mosul’s airport had been completely destroyed in the fighting.
In August 2022, then-prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi laid the foundation stone for the airport’s reconstruction.
Sudani’s office also announced on Sunday the launch of a project to rehabilitate the western bank of the Tigris in Mosul, affirming that “Iraq is secure and stable and on the right path.”

Topics: Iraq Mosul

Related

Middle-East
‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret
video
Middle-East
WATCH: Rebuilding of Mosul’s famous leaning minaret nears completion

Latest updates

Weakened Iran could pursue nuclear weapon, White House’s Sullivan says
Troubled Manchester United humiliated by Bournemouth
Netanyahu says Israel will continue to act against the Houthis
Pakistani naval ships visit Kuwait and Iraq, conduct joint exercises in Arabian Gulf
Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.