A US-Israeli delegation will arrive in Abu Dhabi today for a meeting with Emirati officials to put the final touches in formalizing relations between Israel and the UAE.
The delegation, headed by Jared Kushner, Senior Adviser to US President Donald Trump, and includes US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and Meir Ben-Shabbat, National Security Adviser and head of the Israeli National Security Council, will be aboard the first Israeli commercial plane to land in the UAE.
Israel and the UAE announced on Aug. 13 that they would forge official ties under a deal brokered by Washington. The diplomatic move reshapes the Middle East order, from the Palestinian issue to relations with Iran.
Officials have said that other Arab and Muslim countries will soon follow the UAE’s lead and normalize relations with Israel. Among those publicly mentioned were Oman, Bahrain and Sudan.
The Trump administration has been trying to coax other Sunni Arab countries that share Israel’s concerns about Iran to join in a regional peace push.
Kushner, speaking in Israel, has described the UAE deal as a “giant step forward” in the direction.
The visit comes as part of trilateral efforts to initiate normalized relations with the aim of achieving peace, stability, and support for bilateral cooperation, UAE state news agency WAM reported.
Israel’s national carrier El Al released pictures of the Boeing 737-900 jet that will take the delegates. The word “peace” in English, Hebrew and Arabic is inscribed on the exterior above the cockpit windows for the occasion.
Flight LY971 is scheduled to take off at 10:30a.m. in Tel Aviv and will arrive at 3:05p.m. in Abu Dhabi. The return flight, LY972, takes off on Tuesday morning.
The flights numbers are a nod to the countries’ respective calling codes: +971 for the UAE, and +972 for Israel.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
