Saudi Arabia might soon be opening its airspace to Israeli airlines, a major development for Israel's travelers and tourism industry, as part of a nascent tripartite agreement with Israel and the US.
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Saudi airspace is already open to Israeli airlines but only on flights to and from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, a deal made under the Abraham Accords. The Air India company has already received special permission to route its flights to and from Israel and India through Saudi airspace.
The proposed change will cut considerable time off flights from Israel to a number of destinations, reducing ticket prices. Israel has also asked Saudi Arabia to allow direct flights serving Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, but the Saudis have still not agreed to this.
However, the airspace concession is only part of a much farther-reaching diplomatic shift.
In exchange for allowing Israeli airlines to use its airspace, Israel will greenlight the transfer of sovereignty over the Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. The islands are uninhabited but strategically located, as they control entry to the Gulf of Eilat. Egypt is ready to hand the islands over in exchange for Saudi aid, and the deal has already been agreed upon in Cairo and Riyadh.
Israel and Saudi Arabia have had under-the-radar ties for many years, while cooperating on a number of matters. The deal, if concluded, would bring these relations into the light, at least partially, in effect moving the process of Israeli-Saudi normalization forward a step.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is the main force behind the talks. At this point, he is still unable to form full bilateral ties with Israel, as his father, King Salman, still objects to the idea.
The deal is being brokered by the US administration, which wants Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to help check the rising prices that have resulted from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, relations between Washington and Riyadh are frosty due to US sanctions on MBS, whom the US blames for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was based in the US and published articles critical of the Saudi royal family in US news outlets.
The US declared MBS a persona non grata in Washington, with agreement from both political camps. MBS wants the sanctions against him removed and to pay a state visit to Washington. Currently, the US is willing to offer only a partial "pardon" for what they see as his role in Khashoggi's killing.
Meanwhile, the three-way talks between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the US are reportedly at an advanced stage but have not yet been finalized. It is possible that the postponement of US President Joe Biden's visit to the region, originally scheduled for June, has to do with the US desire to sew up all the details of the tripartite deal before the president takes a victory lap.
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