Israel closed its airport to almost all air traffic last month, trying to block new COVID changes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will cancel a planned trip to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain next week due to Israel’s COVID-19 lockout.
“Despite the importance of the trip to [UAE capital] Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to postpone the trip at this stage due to the closure of the skies, ”a statement from his office said Thursday.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu greatly appreciates the invitations of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and the historic peace that has been established between our nations.”
As part of the national coronavirus blockade, Israel last month banned international flights and closed its land borders.
The closure is expected to end on Sunday, but members of Netanyahu’s government were to meet on Thursday to discuss a possible expansion of the “closed skies” and other locking measures.
Netanyahu had previously booked trips to the UAE but was delayed by political unrest and coronavirus pandemic.
Low-level officials and business leaders have visited the countries both before and after the announcement of normalization plans in August.
Under agreements broken by the administration of former US President Donald Trump in August last year, the UAE and Bahrain have established full diplomatic relations with Israel.
The treaties broke years of consensus among most Arab states that have said that any official recognition of Israel depends on ending the occupation of Palestinian territories and establishing a two-pronged solution. based on 1967 borders.
Prior to that, only two Arab countries had established official ties with Israel – Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), based in the West Bank, has ceased to chair Arab League meetings in protest and brought their ambassadors back to the UAE and Bahrain.
Israel and the two Gulf states share a desire to combat Iran’s influence in the region and have visited the potential for cooperation on investments and technological innovation.
The outreach – happening in public and in private – coincides with foreign policy reversals in the Gulf and Washington.