UAE flies first commercial flight to Israel

State-run news agency says aid shipment meant to curb coronavirus spread in ‘occupied Palestinian territory’

An Etihad Airways flights loaded with aid for the Palestinians to fight the coronavirus pandemic is loaded in Abu Dhabi (AP)

The United Arab Emirates flew a plane loaded with humanitarian supplies to Israel, the first flight by a commercial airline to the country, in a move which may have prompted an angry response by Iran.

Etihad Airways, a state-owned airline under the dominion of Abu Dhabi, the most powerful of seven sheikhdoms that make up the UAE, carried a planeload of goods destined for Palestinians.

But shortly after the shipment of 16 tons of coronavirus aid arrived, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei blasted Arab states’ “treachery” against the Palestinian cause in an English-language post on his Twitter page.

“Today, some Persian Gulf states have committed the biggest treachery against their own history and the history of the Arab world,” the account, which is operated by Ayatollah Khamenei’s office, said. “They have betrayed Palestine by supporting Israel. Will the nations of these states tolerate their leaders’ betrayal?”

It remained unclear whether Mr Khamenei’s tweet was in response to the aid shipment or what many have described as tentative warming ties between Israel and some Arab countries.

Israeli media reported that the unmarked white plane landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport late on Tuesday. Photos showed boxes of goods labelled with Palestinian and UAE flags being unloaded from the plane’s cargo bay.

The landing marked the first known direct commercial flight between the UAE and Israel, which have no formal ties but are believed to have extensive clandestine dealings, especially to collaborate against Iran.

The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency said the shipment was meant to curb the spread of coronavirus in “occupied Palestinian territory.” Neither the West Bank nor the Gaza Strip have an airport, so air shipments to either territory must first go through Israel or neighbouring Jordan or Egypt.

Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s permanent representative to the UN described the shipment - conducted through the World Food Programme - as a purely humanitarian gesture. “This international crisis necessitates an international response,” she was quoted as saying by UAE media.

The airline also downplayed the flight, describing it to news agencies as a shipment of medical supplies with “no passengers on board.”

But Israeli officials appeared eager to celebrate the shipment as a sign of improved relations between Israel and pro-American Arab states. Most Arab states are currently keeping a distance from Israel because of its controversial plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

“For the first time, an Etihad cargo plane just landed at Israel’s Ben-Gurion airport,” Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, wrote on Twitter. “Hopefully soon, we will see passenger flights, too.”

Rabbi Marc Schneier, who is a special advisor to King Hamad of Bahrain, told The Independent it was a significant “step towards normalisation” between the states.

Last June, the prominent New York Rabbi attended the launch in Bahrain of the economic segment of Donald Trump’s peace plan to end the decades-old Israeli and Palestinian conflict.

The divisive event, which was attended by several regional foreign ministers, marked the first time members of the Israeli press were permitted to enter a Gulf country - and was boycotted by the Palestinian leadership.

“There are now four Gulf states which have some involvement with Israel, including Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait that have reached out to Israel’s largest hospital Sheba and today the UAE,” Rabbi Schneier said.

He added that the interests of the Gulf and Israel were increasingly aligned, including a common enemy in Iran, coping with a worldwide economic crisis, and now battling Covid-19.

“As a result of the pandemic, health has become an issue that transcends political and ideological boundaries. The journey has begun, this is one more benchmark along that journey.”

Israel and Palestine have reported nearly 17,000 coronavirus infections and at least 270 deaths.