First direct Israel-uae flight lands
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – A Star of David-adorned El Al plane flew from Israel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, carrying a highranking American and Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight between the two countries.
The Israeli flag carrier’s flight marked the implementation of the historic U.s.-brokered deal to normalize relations between the two nations and solidified the long-clandestine ties between them that have evolved over years of shared enmity toward Iran.
With the U.S. as matchmaker, Israel and the Emirates agreed last month to work toward normalization, which would make it the third Arab nation to have full relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan. Unlike those two nations, Israel has never fought a war against the UAE and hopes to have much warmer relations.
The American delegation included President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Israel was represented by national security adviser Meir Benshabbat and other top officials.
At an airport ceremony in Abu Dhabi, Kushner called the visit a “historic breakthrough.”
State television in Abu Dhabi broke into its broadcast to show the Israeli airplane on the tarmac and aired the comments of all officials, including Ben-shabbat, who spoke in Arabic and Hebrew. No Emirati officials spoke at the ceremony.
“We came here in broad daylight and before the eyes of all in a plane bearing the flag of Israel along with our American friends,” Ben-shabbat said.