The Palestinians are “deeply pained” to witness the flight carrying the first official Israeli delegation to the United Arab Emirates following the last month’s historic peace agreement brokered by President Donald Trump, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said. “It pains us to see an Israeli plane land in the United Arab Emirates,” he complained, as the first-ever commercial flight from Israel to the UAE landed at the Abu Dhabi airport on Monday.
On board the U.S.-chartered Israeli El Al plane were the American and Israeli delegations visiting the Arab gulf state to ceremonially mark the August 13 peace deal. The U.S. and Israeli delegates were received at the airport by UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash “in a festive welcoming ceremony,” Israeli foreign ministry reported.
“By coming to establish relations between Israel and the UAE, we draw inspiration from Abraham, our common patriarch, and forge a new path: A brave path, of hope, partnership, brotherhood, prosperity and peace,” Meir Ben-Shabbat, head of the Israeli delegation and country’s national security adviser, said on arrival.
He acknowledged President Trump’s role in negotiating the landmark peace deal between the Jewish State and the prominent Arab nation. “On behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, I would like to thank US President Donald Trump and his envoy Jared Kushner and his team, and my dear colleague, US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, for the vision, the understanding and the efforts that they invested so that we might reach this moment,” head of the Israeli delegation said.
Israeli TV channel i24News reported the fight-ever commercial flight between Israel and the UAE carrying U.S. and Israeli delegation which included White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner and U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien:
The first official flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) landed Monday in Abu Dhabi, carrying an Israeli-American delegation to advance the landmark peace agreement between the two Middle Eastern states.Leading the historic occasion, special White House advisor Jared Kushner addressed reporters at the airport promptly after landing, as Arab media televised the event under the title “Message of Peace.”The word “peace” was also written in Arabic, English and Hebrew on the cockpit of the El Al Flight LY971 that landed at the VIP terminal in the Emirates capital, where US flags flew alongside the Star of David banner.Speaking of peace, Kushner said: “While this is a historic flight, we hope that it will start an even more historic journey in the Middle East and beyond. The peoples wanted it. The rhetoric of peace resisters is tiring. The Middle East is filled with talented people and the future belongs to them.”He blessed UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for making the breakthrough, and thanked Saudi King Salman for allowing the Israeli aircraft to fly over his territory. “We asked the pilot to fly faster, because the [two] peoples have an urgency to get to know one another,” Kushner jested.US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law also addressed the Palestinians, saying that “peace will be ready for them as soon as they’re ready to embrace it.”
The outrage over the Israel-UAE peace deal announced by President Trump two weeks ago continued as the Israeli plane touched the tarmac in Abu Dhabi. Encouraged by their leaders, the Palestinian protesters had been on the streets stomping on the posters of UAE Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed, President Trump, and Prime Minister Netanyahu, and setting them on fire.
The flight is “a clear and shameful break with the Arab position” PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh lamented. “We prefer a UAE plane landing in liberated Jerusalem,” he said while dreaming of the destruction of the Jewish State.
“This visit is tantamount to stabbing the Palestinian people in the back, a consecration of the occupation, a betrayal of the [Palestinian] people’s resistance, and a conspiracy against their struggle,” Gaza-based terror group Hamas declared.
Palestinian leaders were equally angry at Arab countries for holding back on their usual fat donations, the Jerusalem Post reported Monday:
The PA has not received financial aid from Arab countries since the beginning of this year, Shtayyeh said.“All the American financial aid to us and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has stopped,” he said. “In addition, Israel is trying to blackmail us regarding the tax-revenue funds. We will have to take a $350 million loan from the banks to pay half of the salaries to our employees.”Senior Fatah official Monir al-Jaghoub said the Palestinians were very disappointed with the UAE for signing the normalization agreement with Israel.“The rulers of the United Arab Emirates have registered their names in the black pages of Arab history,” he said. “Anyone who betrays Palestine and forges an alliance with the occupation will end up in the dustbin of history.”
Palestinian leadership is the biggest obstacle to the peace in the region. Angered by President Trump’s peace plan, they refuse to negotiate with either Israel or the United States. The Trump peace plan, announced in January 2020, proposes one-to-one land swaps and offers a multi-billion dollar development plan to create Palestinian jobs. Palestinian leaders, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas, rejected the plan without even taking a look at it.
What would have deterred any other world leader, didn’t affect President Trump. He pushed ahead with the peace initiative without them. With the UAE now becoming the third Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel, after Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), Palestinian leaders are visibly furious and upset.
‘Historic First Flight From Israel to UAE Lands in Abu Dhabi’
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