High-level delegations from the United States and Israel arrived in ABU Dhabi Monday (August 31) after taking off from Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel. It was the first commercial flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates.
The plane flew over Saudi airspace, the first time an Israeli commercial flight has flown over Saudi airspace.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to establish diplomatic relations earlier this month with the help of U.S. mediation.
The UAE will become the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to normalise relations with Israel.
The U.S. delegation will include President Trump’s top adviser and son-in-law jared Kushner, as well as National Security Adviser Jim O ‘Brien, Middle East envoy Richard Berkowitz and Iran envoy John Hooker.
“This is a historic flight,” Kushner told reporters before boarding his plane. “We hope this will be the beginning of a more historic journey for the Middle East and beyond.”
The Israeli delegation included the Head of the delegation, National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabat, and the heads of several ministries.
“The traditional ‘Bon voyage’ has taken on a special meaning for us this morning,” Ben-Chabat said. He added that the purpose of the trip was to lay the foundation for cooperation in such areas as medicine, trade, technology and tourism.
U.S. and Israeli officials will hold talks with officials from the United Arab Emirates.
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