by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:03 AM ET, Mon August 31, 2020
The first-ever commercial passenger flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates took place Monday.
According to The Associated Press, the El Al Flight LY971 flew into Saudi Arabian airspace en route to the UAE, another historic first, as no Israeli commercial plane had ever been permitted to do so in the past.
The United States worked to broker a deal between Israel and the UAE to normalize relations, which became the third Arab nation to rekindle ties with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.
In addition to the relationship between Israel and the UAE, U.S. officials are also in the Middle East to work on establishing ties between Saudi Arabia and additional Arab countries and Israel.
Monday's flight was the first for El Al since July 1, when the Israeli carrier shut down operations due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The plane's captain, Tal Becker, said he never dreamed of flying to Abu Dhabi and it was a "very special feeling."
The delegation of U.S. and Israeli officials are scheduled to stay in Abu Dhabi for one night and then return home on El Al Flight LY972.
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