Israeli Prime Minister Lauds Opening Of Saudi Arabia's Airspace For All Carriers

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2022) Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Friday welcomed Saudi Arabia's decision to open its national airspace to all carriers, including those from Israel, provided that they meet the requirements of the country's civil aviation authority, the prime minister's office said.

Earlier in the day, Riyadh pledged to open Saudi airspace to all flights, including to those from Israel, despite the absence of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Saudi Arabia made the decision amid US President Joe Biden's visit to Jerusalem and ahead of his trip to Riyadh as part of efforts to improve intergovernmental relations in the middle East.

"I thank the Saudi leadership for the opening of Saudi airspace. This is only the first step. We will continue working with necessary caution, for the sake of Israel's economy, security and the good of our citizens," the Israeli prime minister said, as quoted by the office.

Lapid also expressed gratitude to Biden for "his commitment to Israel's military and diplomatic strength." In this regard, the Israeli leader recalled that Riyadh's decision had been preceded by deepening Washington's commitment to Israeli security, signing the Jerusalem strategic partnership declaration between the US and Israel on July 14 and promoting the Abraham Peace Accords � a set of US-backed documents aimed at normalizing relations between Israel and Arab countries.

Israel and Saudi Arabia have never established diplomatic relations due to the Arab-Israeli disagreements and the�Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which Riyadh has been supporting the latter. Most of the air carriers flying to or from Israel previously had to bypass the country's airspace.