First 'historic' direct flight between Israel and UAE lands in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi/Jerusalem: In a historic step towards peace in the Middle East, the first commercial direct flight between Israel and the UAE landed in Abu Dhabi on Monday after both countries announced normalisation of relations.
We just completed a truly historic flight. This hopefully will be the first of many, Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law, who is leading the US delegation along with National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, said after disembarking from the flight.
He thanked leadership on both sides on the occasion. Saudi Arabia granted permission for the use of its air space.
Peace overwhelmingly desired by the people, except by those who exploit misery to remain in power. Future belongs to industrious people of the region, Kushner said.
The Israeli delegation is led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat.
Israel and the UAE announced on August 13 that they were establishing full diplomatic relations, in a US-brokered deal that required Israel to suspend its plan to annex parts of the West Bank.
UAE is only the third Arab country to establish diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Israel's neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, being the other two Arab states to recognise the Jewish state.
The development is being seen as a major breakthrough because the Israeli national carrier, El Al, flew over the Saudi airspace, which is being interpreted by analysts as acceptance of Israel by the Gulf countries in general, and a probable normalisation of ties with some of the other "friendly countries" in that region.
The flight that took off from the Ben-Gurion airport in Israel landed in Abu Dhabi on Monday afternoon.
The delegation is visiting in the wake of the trilateral announcement and roadmap towards joint cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel.
On asked about the possible sale of F-35 stealth jets to the UAE, Kushner said, "Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president (Donald Trump) will discuss that at some point," he official WAM news agency reported.
"Another step toward regional peace. We are all excited and look forward to more historic flights that will take us to other capital cities in the region, advancing us all to a more prosperous future," Tal Becker, the pilot of the plane, was quoted as saying in the report.
The special plane, El Al 737-900, is equipped with a system to protect aircraft against aerial threats like ground-to-air missiles, the report said.
The Directed IR Countermeasures (DIRCM) manufactured by Elbit Systems defend aircraft by detecting, tracking and jamming incoming infrared threats like heat-seeking ground-to-air missiles and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, also known as man-portable air defense systems (MANPADs), it said.
According to a report in the Gulf News, the US-Israeli delegation, comprised of representatives from the investment, finance, health, civil space and aviation, foreign policy, diplomacy, tourism, and culture sectors and will meet representatives of UAE government agencies to discuss ways to develop relations in related fields.
Earlier in Israel before take off, Ben-Shabbat said Israel's goals for the trip is to "reach a joint work plan to promote ties in a broad range of areas, including tourism, innovation, health and much more".
The Israeli Airline Pilots Association released a tentative map of LY971's route on Sunday evening, showing the plane slated to cross through Saudi airspace.
Many believe that the normalisation of ties with UAE could have come only with Saudi blessings but Riyadh is yet to establish formal diplomatic ties with Jerusalem but is believed to covertly cooperate closely with the Jewish state.
Air India has been flying over Saudi airspace since its operations started in March 2018 on the Tel Aviv-Delhi route, but the kingdom did not permit Israeli airlines to fly over it.
Symbolic of direct connection between Israel and the UAE, the flight numbers have been marked LY971 on the way to Abu Dhabi and LY972 on the way back to Israel, using the telephone dialing code of the two countries.
It has also painted a peace logo in Arabic, English and Hebrew on flight 971.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference on Sunday said the breakthrough signalled the end of a "Palestinian veto".
Most of the Arab countries over the years have linked normalisation of ties with Israel to a peace agreement and just settlement of Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian leaders have condemned UAE for agreeing to normalise relations with Israel, calling the move "despicable and a betrayal".
The Prime Minister's Office has said that the delegation aboard the "historic" flight is civilian in nature and defence officials would be travelling to the Gulf country a few weeks later.
The two-day visit will include a trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi between the heads of the delegations and UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed.
The Israeli delegation also included Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman, Health Ministry Director General Chezy Levy, Science and Technology Ministry Director General Shai-Li Spiegelman, Economy and Industry Ministry Director General David Laffler among others.
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Min. Priyank Kharge to expresses concern over implementation of VB-G Ram G
Bengaluru: Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Priyank Kharge has expressed concern over the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the proposed VB-G Ram G scheme, stating that the MNREGA programme, which has been a lifeline for rural India for nearly two decades, appears to be facing an uncertain future.
Speaking to media, Kharge said that as March 31 draws to a close, there is no clarity on the rollout of the new scheme from April 1. He pointed out that the central government has not yet issued the necessary guidelines for implementing the scheme for rural workers and villages.
He criticised the Centre for its lack of preparedness, stating that there is no clarity on fund allocation, no final parameters for classifying gram panchayats, and key processes such as social audits have not been defined.
Kharge said the situation comes at a critical time, as summer marks a peak period for rural employment demand, when many people depend heavily on wage employment for their livelihood.
He added that reports have emerged of delays in approvals and families not receiving work despite demand.
He further alleged that the Centre’s move to shift from a statutory employment guarantee to a rule-based allocation system is already showing negative consequences.
Kharge also raised concerns over provisions such as a mandatory 60-day halt during agricultural seasons, which he said would further limit employment opportunities for rural workers.
The BJP-led central government had claimed that the new scheme would transform rural India, but in reality it is turning out to be detrimental to people’s livelihoods, he said.
“The crisis in rural India due to the stalling of MNREGA is beginning to unfold. Given the Centre’s past record in handling such situations, there is growing concern over the impact on rural livelihoods,” Kharge said.
