Watch History Being Made: US-Israeli Delegation On 1st Direct Flight To UAE Over Saudi Airspace

The US-Israeli delegation took off on Monday morning at 11:15 a.m. on the historic first-ever Israeli commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi in implementation of the Israeli-UAE normalization agreement.

“I prayed at the (Western) Wall [on Sunday] that Muslims and Arabs throughout the world will be watching this flight, recognizing that we are all children of G-d, and that the future does not have to be pre-determined by the past,” Jared Kushner said at Ben-Gurion before boarding the flight.

“This morning the traditional greeting of ‘Go in Peace’ takes on a special significance for us,” the head of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat, who is heading the Israeli delegation to the UAE, said.

https://twitter.com/simonarann/status/1300341683285098497?s=20

הטיסה ההיסטורית לאבו דאבי | יועצו של הנשיא טראמפ, ג'ארד קושנר, במעמד העלייה למטוס: מקווים שזה יתחיל מסע היסטורי למזרח התיכון ומעבר, העתיד לא צריך להיקבע על ידי העבר@gilicohen10 pic.twitter.com/TmAm3y8iYv

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 31, 2020

הטיסה ההיסטורית לאמירויות | ראש המועצה לביטחון לאומי וראש המשלחת לאמירויות, מאיר בן שבת: היעד הוא השגת תוכנית עבודה משותפת לייסוד יחסים בתחומים רבי – בריאות, כלכלה, תיירות, טכנלוגיה, חדשנות ועוד תחומים רבים אחרים@gilicohen10 pic.twitter.com/Is2e1GELvi

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 31, 2020

The El Al plane, equipped with a missile defense system, had the word peace printed above the pilot’s window in Hebrew, Arabic and English.

פעמי שלום – נתב"ג אבו דאבי 🇮🇱✈️🇦🇪

גלריה מרהיבה מהטיסה ההיסטורית.

תודה לרש"ת 🌷 pic.twitter.com/YKIq0cC1TW

— דודי רובינשטיין – חול מהודר (@hul_meudar) August 31, 2020

El Al Captain Tel Becker spoke to the passengers in English, Arabic and Hebrew prior to take off: “This is the first time that an Israeli flight, with an Israeli flag, will fly over Saudi Arabia,” Becker said.

El Al captain Tal Beker speaks to the passengers in Arabic and English before taking off from Israel to Abu Dhabi. The Hebrew came later 🇦🇪🇮🇱🇺🇸@ynetalerts pic.twitter.com/eKk3Qb609N

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) August 31, 2020

The Boeing 737 plane entered Saudi airspace following the kingdom’s approval to Israel’s request on Sunday. Israel’s Airline Pilots Association published a map of the planes’ historic route over Saudia Arabia on Twitter:

Aboard the historic flight was the US delegation, headed by President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, special envoy for international negotiations Avi Berkowitz, and envoy for Iran Brian Hook.

The Israeli delegation is headed by National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Acting Director-General and delegation coordinator for economic issues Ronen Peretz, Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman, Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz, Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Chezy Levy, and director-generals of the economy, regional cooperation and science ministries, director-general of the population authority, and director of the Civil Aviation Authority.

The Israelis and Emirati officials will hold meetings on a variety of issues over two days and sign agreements on cooperation in various fields, such as trade, health and medicine, finance, tourism, investment, technology, space and science and others.

To conclude on a lighter note, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shared a video of a family in the UAE celebrating the peace agreement between Israel and the UAE: