Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israeli airliners would be able to overfly Sudan en route to South America, part of Israel's drive to improve ties with Muslim countries and isolate archfoe Iran.
Encouraged by the Trump administration, Israel has sought better relations with formerly hostile Arab and Muslim countries that share its worries about Iran or see potential economic benefits.
Last month, Netanyahu and Chadian President Idriss Déby renewed relations severed by N'Djamena in 1972.
Netanyahu told a briefing of diplomats his talks with Déby had paved the way toward opening up a new air corridor to South America.
"At this time, we can overfly Egypt. We can overfly Chad, that has already been set. And it appears that we can also overfly this corner of Sudan," he said, pointing to a map.
Netanyahu's office did not elaborate and it was unclear when Israeli flights might be able to start overflying Sudan en route to South America, which the prime minister described as Israel's fourth-most important air-travel destination.
There was no immediate comment from Khartoum.
Israeli diplomats say there have been low-level contacts with Sudan in recent years though the authorities there have been reluctant to acknowledge them publicly.
Israel has previously viewed Sudan as an Iranian ally and accused it of serving as a conduit for arms smuggling to Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli diplomats now say they believe Sudan has distanced itself from Iran.
In recent months, Israel has been assiduously courting Sunni Muslim countries, notably Gulf states, which have also drawn closer to Israel over a number of years due to shared concerns about the rise of Iran's Shiite influence in the region.
Some Sunni Muslim countries worry that Iranian influence could touch off unrest among their Shiite minorities.
On Monday, meanwhile, Netanyahu, who visited Oman in October, told a group of Israeli diplomats that Omani leader Sultan Qaboos had agreed to overflights by Israeli national air carrier El Al.
El Al said the news of Oman's permission took the airline by surprise, but that it "welcomes the prime minister's political activity to achieve every possible flight shortcut to and from Israel."
The move appears to have no immediate practical effect because El Al, Israel's official carrier, is still barred from flying over Oman's northern neighbor, Saudi Arabia.
However, last spring, Saudi Arabia broke a decades-long ban on the use of its airspace for flights to Israel when it allowed India's national carrier to cross its skies. The move cut about two hours off India-Israel flights. But the kingdom's approval did not extend to El Al, which is forced to take a circuitous route that bypasses the entire Arabian Peninsula.
In less politically momentous but equally welcome news, El Al has announced that it will begin operating weekly direct flights from Tel Aviv to Las Vegas starting in the summer of 2019, with assistance from the Tourism Ministry.
El Al's first direct flight to Las Vegas is slated to depart from Tel Aviv on June 14, 2019.
El Al's fleet of new Dreamliner aircraft will be used on the route. The Tourism Ministry is allocating €250,000 ($284,000) to help fund the new route.
Las Vegas is not the only new direct destination for Israel's national carrier. Starting on May 13, El Al will be offering three direct flights to San Francisco per week. The new routes bring the total number of direct destinations in North America served by El Al to seven: New York-JFK, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
El Al is offering a three-day introductory price on tickets to Las Vegas and San Francisco, starting Tuesday. Round-trip economy fares to Las Vegas and San Francisco start at $787, including taxes.
El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin said the airline expects to fly "tens of thousands of Israelis and tourists on our new routes. We will continue to work to expand the company's destinations."
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said, "The launch of the new route is a welcome development of cooperation between the Tourism Ministry and El Al, after the Miami route. We see great importance in the steps El Al is taking to increase the market and create new routes, which contribute to incoming tourism to Israel."
