The Palestinian Authority is irate at the United Arab Emirates for landing a plane in Israel, despite the fact that the aircraft was laden with corona aid for Palestinians.
By Ezra Stone, United with Israel
On Thursday, the Palestinian Authority announced a new tactic to shoot itself in the foot: refusing to accept 16 tons of humanitarian aid destined for Palestinian communities.
The reason the PA refused to accept the much-needed supplies? The aid arrived on the historic first commercial flight from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Israel.
On Tuesday evening, an Etihad Airways plane arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, completing the first direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Israel.
While Israel and the UAE do not currently have official diplomatic relations, similar to most states in the Arab world, the two nations have forged covert ties over the years, much to the chagrin of the PA, which demands that all Arab nations boycott Israel.
The PA claimed it rejected the supplies because the donation wasn’t cleared directly with the PA, reported Palestinian news site Ma’an.
“The [PA] doesn’t want to serve as a bridge for the normalization of ties between the UAE and Israel,” Bloomberg reported, based on Ma’an’s coverage.
During the past several years, high-profile Israelis such as Miri Regev and Israel Katz have made visits to the UAE, and the Israeli national anthem was played at a sporting event there in 2019.
The UAE joins other Arab nations enjoying warming relations with Israel, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman. Jordan and Egypt both signed peace treaties with Israel and maintain full diplomatic relations.
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