Jacob Magid is the American correspondent for The Times of Israel in New York.
Biden’s management is pressuring the Omani government to adhere to Saudi Arabia by allowing Israeli flights to use its airspace, which would shorten the distance of flights to the Far East, two Middle East diplomats told The Times of Israel.
In July, Saudi Arabia announced that its airspace would be open to all advertising planes, in a nod to Israel, which even thought it was the only country banned from flying over the Gulf kingdom. The United States and Israel called the move a step toward normalization between Riyadh and Jerusalem, though Saudi Arabia sought to downplay the gesture, saying it is not a precursor to new measures as long as there is no two-state solution to the Israeli conflict. Palestinian conflict.
While Saudi overflights were long sought through U. S. and Israeli officials, the move ended up being largely symbolic, as flights to Asian countries such as India and China would still require similar permission from Oman.
A Middle East diplomat said Biden handled this detail in his crusade to convince Riyadh to open its airspace to Israeli flights.
As a result, Israeli planes have been forced to fly south through Africa or north through Russia to travel to the Far East, adding several hours to those flights. However, non-Israeli jets have been able to make shorter flights over Saudi Arabia. Arabia, even if they are heading to or from the Jewish state.
The Saudi resolution shortened some flight times for Israelis vacationing in the Republic of Seychelles off the coast of East Africa, a destination that does not require Oman’s airspace to succeed.
When the Abraham Accords normalization agreements were signed between Israel, UAE and Bahrain in 2020, Saudi Arabia allowed the use of its airspace for flights between the 3 countries.
But to further bolster the July Saudi decision, Biden officials have discussed opening Muscat airspace to Israeli flights with their Omani counterparts several times in recent months, a Middle East diplomatic moment said.
U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U. S. National Security AdviserU. S. Secretary of State Jake Sullivan raised the issue in his talks last week with Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi, the diplomat said, confirming a report by the Axios news site.
“There has been progress on this front,” the diplomat said, though he declined to offer a timeline on when a resolution will be reached through Oman.
Future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when he was prime minister in 2018, reportedly won a pledge from Sultan Qaboos to open Oman’s airspace to Israeli planes. However, the resolution was reversed through Qaboos’ successor, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.
Oman has been known as a country that may be the next to sign the Abraham Agreement, however, Muscat has so far resisted joining the pact.
Al-Busaidi said last year that Oman would only move after a two-state solution was achieved.
The White House declined a request for comment. Oman’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
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