A US-Israeli delegation led by White House advisor Jared Kushner arrived on Monday in Abu Dhabi, on the first commercial flight from Tel Aviv to mark the normalisation of ties between the Jewish state and the UAE.
The word "peace" was written in Arabic, English and Hebrew on the cockpit of the plane of Israel's national carrier El Al that took off around 11:20 am (6:20 pm AEST).
In another breakthrough, regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia allowed the historic flight to cross its airspace, halving what would otherwise have been a long trip around the Arabian peninsula.
"This is the first time this has ever happened. I would like to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for making that possible," Mr Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, said on arrival in Abu Dhabi.
Israeli and American delegations pose for a photo before their departure to Abu Dhabi, at Ben-Gurion Airport, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Source: Pool Sipa Press
The flight number El Al 971 is a reference to the UAE's international dialling code, and the return flight, set to leave Abu Dhabi on Tuesday morning, is El Al 972, matching Israel's dialling code.
"While this is a historic flight, we hope that it will start an even more historic journey in the Middle East and beyond," Kushner, a key architect of Trump's Middle East policy, said before boarding.
"The future does not have to be predetermined by the past. This is a very hopeful time."
The Israel-UAE agreement to normalise ties was announced by Mr Trump on 13 August, making the UAE the first Gulf country and only the third Arab nation to establish relations with Israel.
Unlike Egypt, which made peace with its former battlefield enemy in 1979, and Jordan, which followed in 1994, the UAE has never fought a war with Israel.
Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat, who was also on the flight to the UAE, said "our goal is to achieve a joint working plan to advance relations in a very broad range of areas".
The flight path of El Al 971 travelling through Saudi Arabia. Source: FlightRadar24
"This morning, the traditional blessing 'go in peace' receives special meaning for us," he was quoted as saying in an English-language government statement.
'Sparks fly'
The talks in Abu Dhabi aim to boost cooperation between the two regional economic powerhouses in areas including aviation, tourism, trade, health, energy and security.
An Israeli government statement said there would be "working meetings of joint teams on a range of issues ahead of the signing of cooperation agreements in the civil and economic spheres".
The visit will also include a trilateral meeting between Mr Kushner, Mr Ben-Shabbat and UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed.
Israel's health ministry had on late Sunday updated its list of "green countries" with low coronavirus infection rates to include the UAE and eight other countries.
The change meant the Israeli officials and journalists travelling to Abu Dhabi would be exempted from a 14-day quarantine upon return.
Since the agreement between the UAE and Israel was unveiled, there have been phone calls between their ministers, and on Saturday the Emirates in a new milestone repealed a 1972 law boycotting Israel.
U.S. Senior adviser Jared Kushner, U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, and Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat, Source: Reuters
"It will be permissible to enter, exchange or possess Israeli goods and products of all kinds in the UAE and trade in them," read a decree issued by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking alongside Kushner in Jerusalem on Sunday, praised "the swift pace of normalisation" between his country and the UAE.
Noting the UAE's Saturday move, Mr Netanyahu said it "opens the door" for "unbridled trade, tourism, investments, exchanges between the Middle East's two most advanced economies".
"You will see how the sparks fly on this. It's already happening," he said, predicting that "today's breakthroughs will become tomorrow's norms.
"It will pave the way for other countries to normalise their ties with Israel."
"There are many more unpublicised meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalise relations with the state of Israel," Mr Netanyahu said without naming any countries.
As part of the normalisation agreement, Israel agreed to suspend its planned annexations in the West Bank, although Mr Netanyahu quickly insisted the plans remained on the table in the long run.
The Palestinians dubbed the UAE's agreement with Israel a "stab in the back" as it opens parts of the Arab world to the Jewish state while their own conflict remains unresolved.
Saudi Arabia, in keeping with decades of policy by most Arab states, says it will not follow the UAE's example until Israel has signed a peace deal with the Palestinian Territories.
