Initially, there was an almost complete ban on flights over Saudi Arabia for flights to and from Israel. The Gulf monarchy has revoked this for flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The two Gulf states established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, mediated by the United States.
Shorter flight time
The now published announcement means shorter flight times for travelers from Asian countries such as Thailand and China, who previously had to make long detours on their way to Israel.
Biden wants to fly from Israel to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Friday as “Israel’s first president,” as he emphasized in a guest article for the Washington Post. The trip was “a small symbol of the developing relationship and a step towards normalization between Israel and the Arab world”. Former US President George W. Bush had flown from Tel Aviv to Riyadh in 2008, Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, flew the same route in the opposite direction in 2017.
Biden meets Palestinian President Abbas
Biden met with the new Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid in Jerusalem on Thursday. Both then stressed that Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Before continuing his trip to Saudi Arabia, Biden met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.
The two-state solution is still far away
Biden later spoke again in favor of a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. “The Palestinian people deserve their own independent, sovereign, viable and cohesive state,” Biden said. But he knew that his goal still seemed far away. Abbas urged the US to recognize a Palestinian state. Israel must end the occupation of the Palestinian territories, he said.
The peace process has been idle for many years
The two-state solution means that an independent, democratic and demilitarized Palestinian state coexists peacefully with Israel. The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has been stalled since 2014. Biden’s visit has brought no real progress in the conflict.
Biden pledged $316 million in additional financial aid to the Palestinians. About $200 million will be provided to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), he said. Under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, the US government has stopped payments to UNRWA.
Abbas called on the US government to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from the US terror list. “We are not terrorists,” he said. He also called for the reopening of the US consulate in Jerusalem.
Will Biden Deal with Khashoggi’s Murder in Jeddah?
In Jerusalem, Biden again had to justify his planned visit to Saudi Arabia. When asked at a news conference on Thursday, he did not want to commit to dealing with the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden wants to meet King Salman and the Crown Prince in Jeddah on Friday evening. Before returning to the United States, Biden plans to attend a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah on Saturday.
During the election campaign, Biden vowed to hold the Saudi leadership accountable for the killing and make him an “outsider”. Khashoggi was killed by a hit squad at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in the fall of 2018. US intelligence agencies blamed the crown prince – the kingdom’s de facto ruler.
