Oman agreed Thursday to open its airspace to Israeli flights, even though the country does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, in a move that could transform Ben Gurion Airport into a global transit hub between Asia and Europe.
“The Far East is not so far, and the sky is no longer the limit,” a jubilant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The move appeared to symbolically indicate that Netanyahu’s statements that the Arab world was ready to normalize ties with Israel were prophetic and on their way to becoming reality.
But they came amid reports that Morocco had likely canceled, or at the very least delayed, a meeting of the Negev Forum, which it had been scheduled to host in March.
The Biden administration created the forum to build on the 2020 Abraham Accords, under whose auspices Israel normalized ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, which has yet to finalize its accession to the deal.
The Negev Forum, which first convened in March in Israel, included US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.
Speculation regarding its delay or cancellation came in the aftermath of Israel’s military raid in Nablus on Wednesday and its advancement of plans for new settlement homes. The meeting has yet to be scheduled, and if it is to take place in March, it must occur before the 22nd, which is the start of Ramadan.
“This is a day of great news for Israeli aviation. Israel has, in effect, become the main transit point between Asia and Europe."
Benjamin Netanyahu
In Israel, however, the focus was on a new aviation flight path and the economic and diplomatic possibilities it suggested with respect to new normalization ties. Oman and its neighbor Saudi Arabia are both considered likely candidates to join the Abraham Accords.
Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to Israel last summer. Now that Israeli flights can travel over both countries, it would take two hours less to fly to Asia, the Foreign Ministry said.
It makes India, in particular, much more accessible, impacts flight times to Australia and transforms Israel into a global transit hub between Asia and Europe, it said.
“We have worked to open the airspace, first over Saudi Arabia and from 2018, when I visited Oman, to add Oman as well so that we can fly directly to India and on to Australia,” Netanyahu said.
“This is a day of great news for Israeli aviation,” he said. “Israel has, in effect, become the main transit point between Asia and Europe.”
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said it was a “historic decision” for the Israeli economy and travelers, “which will shorten the road to Asia, lower costs for Israeli citizens and help Israeli airlines to be more competitive.”
He thanked Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq and the Biden administration for their help with the move and expressed gratitude to Netanyahu, Foreign Ministry Director-General Ronen Levy and other officials in his office
A history of Oman-Israel ties and Israel's Middle East diplomacy
Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority tweeted: “Enforcing international and local requirements against discrimination in dealing with civilian aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority confirms that the sultanate’s airspace is open to all carriers that meet the requirements of overflying.”
Oman established trade relations with Israel in 1994, after the 1993 Oslo Accords, but broke them off in 2000 after the Second Intifada broke out.