NEW YORK – JULY 22: An El Al Airlines plane sits at Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy Airport July 22, 2014 in New York City. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted all flights from the U.S. to Tel Aviv, Israel following a rocket attack near Ben Gurion International Airport. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images) On August 31, the first flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was completed. The return flight to Tel Aviv will be on September 1.
The El Al airliner, which had the word “peace” written on it in English, Arabic and Hebrew, consisted of a delegation of U.S. and Israeli officials – including White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is President Donald’s Trump son-in-law – flying to Abu Dhabi to discuss economic trade agreements and other issues. The plane flew through Saudi Arabia’s airspace to get to Abu Dhabi, which also was a first.
Jerusalem Post senior editor Lahav Harkov shared photos from inside the flight:
Some photos from the flight…flying over Saudi Arabia! pic.twitter.com/CehHvXQV9u
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) August 31, 2020
El Al was very enthusiastic pic.twitter.com/rxfcqSaPFA
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) August 31, 2020
Landing in UAE! pic.twitter.com/ku6YspFEbz
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) August 31, 2020
Kushner said in a statement before boarding the flight, “While this is a historic flight, we hope that this will start an even more historic journey for the Middle East and beyond.”
The American Jewish Committee tweeted, “For the first time in history, an El Al flight took off from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi – flying over Saudi airspace. We join all Israelis and Emiratis in celebrating this historic occasion, and thank the U.S. for its leadership.”
For the first time in history, an El Al flight took off from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi – flying over Saudi airspace.
We join all Israelis 🇮🇱 and Emiratis 🇦🇪 in celebrating this historic occasion, and thank the U.S. 🇺🇸 for its leadership.https://t.co/DvHRE3B7gQ
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) August 31, 2020
Bryan Leib, chairman of the newly formed Jewish millennial group HaShevet, tweeted out a clip of the plane landing in Abu Dhabi, writing, “This was a truly historic day for anyone who supports peace in the Middle East! My heart is full!”
History was made today when an Israeli commercial airliner took off on a non-stop flight from #Israel to the #UnitedArabEmirates flying over Saudi airspace!
This was a truly historic day for anyone who supports peace in the Middle East! My heart is full! #UAEIsrael 🇮🇱🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/aoXRSIdWtf
— Bryan E. Leib (@BryanLeibFL) August 31, 2020
The flight comes after the UAE rescinded on August 29 its law boycotting Israel, which had been on the books since 1972, when the UAE was established. Earlier in the month, Israel and the UAE announced relations between the two countries will be normalized.
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