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Ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday, the kingdom announces that it is opening its airspace to “all airlines”. In plain language, this means that Saudi Arabia is lifting its long-standing ban on Israeli flights over the country.
Biden has recently visited Israel and will be the first American leader to fly directly from there to Saudi Arabia.
The opening is another step towards a normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and the White House is not late in taking the credit.
“This decision is the result of the President’s persistent and principled diplomacy with Saudi Arabia for many months, culminating in today’s visit,” said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in a statement.