Saudi Arabia has agreed to discuss direct flights from Israel from next year
The King of Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince agreed during their conversation with President Biden to discuss the existence of direct charter flights from Israel to Jeddah during the events of aliyah to Mecca next year.
This is another significant normalization step, after opening the skies to Israeli flights, which will serve hundreds of thousands of Muslim Israelis
Lightning Ravid
15/07/2022
Friday, 15 July 2022, 22:35 Updated: 22:50
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President's visit comes to an end: Biden meets with Abu Mazen in Bethlehem (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia has agreed to discuss direct charter flights from Israel to Jeddah during next year's Hajj events at approved airlines, a senior US administration official said at the end of US President Joe Biden's meetings with Saudi King Salman and Regent Muhammad bin Salman.
why is it important
This is a second normalization step on the part of Saudi Arabia towards Israel during Biden's visit.
The Saudis announced Thursday night that they have given permission to Israeli airlines to use Saudi airspace on flights to the east.
Direct charter flights to Saudi Arabia will serve hundreds of thousands of Muslim Israelis who until today had to attend the Hajj events via Jordan, which extended the trip and made it significantly more expensive.
Behind the Scenes
Senior Israeli officials said that having direct flights is a matter that requires lengthy and complex preparations, so the decision was to start discussions and preparations on the subject ahead of next year's Hajj events.
More on Walla!
Historical decision: Saudi Arabia will open its airspace to Israeli airlines
To the full article
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Promotes normalization.
Biden and Saudi Crown Prince (Photo: Reuters)
The big picture
The US official confirmed that the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia had reached agreements on the strategic islands of Tiran and the Red Sea.
He said the arrangements would make it possible to remove the international observer force from the islands in order to develop them for tourism purposes.
What they say
"Saudi Arabia has agreed to preserve and continue all the commitments and arrangements in the region (which have existed since the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt - BR).
"President Biden welcomed the arrangement that has been negotiated for months and fully takes into account the interests of all parties, including Israel," the senior US official said.
What next
The U.S. official said the international observer force, including the U.S. troops serving in it, would leave the islands by the end of 2022.
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