Enlarge this imageWhite House senior adviser Jared Kushner speaks as Israeli national David Justice Jersey security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, left, and U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien listen after an El Al plane from Israel landed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday. The Israeli flag carrier’s flight marks a U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE.Nir Elias/APhide captiontoggle captionNir Elias/APWhite House senior adviser Jared Kushner speaks as Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, left, and U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien listen after an El Al plane from Israel landed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday. The Israeli flag carrier’s flight marks a U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE.Nir Elias/APIt would have been unimaginable only weeks ago to see Israeli officials exit a Star of David-adorned jetliner in the United Arab Emirates and walk down a red carpet on the tarmac. But that’s what happened Monday, marking a first for the countries after they agreed to establish diplomatic relations last month. Their U.S.-brokered deal is rooted in the geopolitical interests of the leaders involved. But the El Al Israel Airlines flight carrying Israeli and U.S. delegates from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi was partly aimed at tugging the heartstrings of ordinary Israelis, who have yearned for acceptance in a hostile neighborhood.World With Israel-UAE Flight, Israelis And Emiratis Mark Closer Ties As Palestinians Worry The news was meant to play well in the United States, too, with the U.S. Emba sy in Jerusalem informally dubbing it the Peace Plane. Enlarge this imageAn official stands at the door of an Israeli El Al airliner after it landed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday. The headrests and food trays had the words “making history” in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The word “peace” was emblazoned atop the cockpit.Nir Elias/APhide captiontoggle captionNir Elias/APAn official stands at the door of an Israeli El Al airliner after it landed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday. The headrests and food trays had the words “making history” in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The word “peace” was emblazoned atop the cockpit.Nir Elias/APThe pa senger headrests and food trays were labeled with the phrase “making history” in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The word “peace” again in all three languages adorned the plane’s fuselage above the cockpit. Veteran flight attendants called it the most moving flight of their careers. President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner sat in busine s cla s without wearing a face mask during stretches of the crowded flight. Other seats were reserved for Israeli and U.S. news outlets. (They included NPR, CNN, The A sociated Pre s, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, but excluded The Phil Niekro Jersey New York Times and The Washington Post for reasons not fully explained.)The welcoming ceremony in Abu Dhabi was unusual: The Israeli and American officials e sentially welcomed themselves in remarks on the tarmac, while top Emirati officials waited for them in a gilded reception room. Images of the visiting and host delegations’ meeting were released later, but the meeting was closed to the pre s. Middle EastPalestinians Feel Betrayed By UAE-Israel DealPalestinians Feel Betrayed By UAE-Israel Deal Listen 4:104:10 Toggle more optionsDownloadEmbedEmbed”>”>Transcript Palestinians protested the Emirates’ move, considering it an added injury given President Trump’s consistent support for Israel in some of the conflict’s most difficult i sues. The UAE has sought to rea sure Palestinians it supports their quest for an independent state, John Smoltz Jersey but Emiratis were offended by what they perceived as Palestinian insults of their ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and his decision to recognize Israel. Several Emiratis in recent weeks have privately expre sed to NPR their disdain for the Palestinian leadership.The Israel-UAE deal is expected to yield lucrative busine s opportunities for the two economic powerhouses, including plans to market regional tourism packages with Jordan and Egypt.Palestinians, whose economic potential is stymied by the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza, might have stood to benefit from the new deal. But when NPR asked Kushner and later an Emirati foreign affairs official if such an offer was in the making, both said no not that Palestinian leaders would be willing to take part in the countries’ normalization deal anyway. No celebratory Emirati airliner has departed for Israel. Instead the Emiratis have their sights on a very different aircraft: the stealth F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Despite Israel’s concerns that selling the UAE the F-35 would erode its military advantage in the region, the Trump administration strongly suggests it could reward the UAE for its new diplomacy with the F-35 in a way that would still preserve Israel’s upper hand. Kushner and his entourage paid a visit to an Emirati airbase where the U.S. military deploys several of its own F-35s for Middle East mi sions. On the airfield, Kushner and mustachioed U.S. military pilots posed for photos with the first female Emirati to fly the F-16, Mariam al-Mansouri, who has conducted airstrikes on ISIS in Syria. They stood in front of a U.S.-built F-16 emblazoned with the UAE flag. Two gray F-35s parked close by remained in place like unacknowledged elephants in a room. But that sensitive topic Danny Santana Jersey was downplayed by Emirati and Israeli officials on this trip. Instead, they sat at U-shaped tables in the luxury St. Regis Abu Dhabi hotel to hammer out the initial details of their emerging relationship, including, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, “a media plan directed at public opinion in both countries.” A talking point they have decided to promote: It is not a cold peace, like Israel’s ties with Egypt and Jordan with which it fought multiple wars, but rather a friendship of peoples. One test of that will come when regular flights begin between the two countries Israel hopes it will be by the end of the year carrying ordinary citizens, not only officials and journalists, and without red carpets on the tarmac.
