Israel accepts security arrangements allowing Egypt to transfer islands to Saudi Arabia

Israel will comply with new safety preparations that can permit Egypt to switch management of two strategic islands within the Purple Sea to Saudi Arabia, the Jerusalem Put up reported on Thursday.

In accordance with the Put up, Israel will permit a multinational power of observers stationed on the Tiran and Sanafir islands – which ensured freedom of navigation on the Strait of Tiran – to be relocated to Egypt.

In return, Saudi Arabia will permit Israeli airways to fly over its airspace. At the moment, solely Israeli flights to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain can fly over the dominion, in addition to Air India flights to and from Israel.

The Put up reported that the settlement can be introduced later this month when US President Joe Biden is anticipated to go to Israel and Saudi Arabia. In accordance with experiences, Biden might meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman throughout his go to.

Biden campaigned on making Saudi a “pariah” state and signed off on the discharge of a CIA doc that blamed MBS for the homicide of Center East Eye and Washington Put up columnist Jamal Khashoggi. 

The Tiran and Sanafir islands – strategically situated on the sea passage to the ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel – have been occupied by Israel in 1967 throughout the Six Day Warfare, earlier than being handed again to Egyptian management in 1982, 4 years after the 2 sides signed the Camp David peace accords.

Saudi Arabia has lengthy claimed possession of the islands and mentioned Egypt managed them since 1950 for cover on the request of Riyadh. 

In 2017, Egypt’s Supreme Court docket authorized a deal between the 2 nations that ceded the islands to Saudi Arabia regardless of public anger towards the transfer. 

Thursday’s report comes towards the backdrop of a normalisation push by the US between Israel and several other Arab states.

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In 2020, Israel signed offers with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, in what turned often known as the Abraham Accords.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted Riyadh’s potential position in increasing normalisation with extra Arab and Muslim nations.

“Saudi Arabia is a important accomplice to us in coping with extremism within the area, in coping with the challenges posed by Iran, and likewise I hope in persevering with the method of constructing relationships between Israel and its neighbours each close to and additional away by way of the continuation, the growth of the Abraham Accords,” Blinken mentioned at a digital occasion celebrating the a centesimal anniversary of the founding of Overseas Affairs journal. 

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Saudi officers have lately spoken about probably normalising ties with Israel, however insist the nation is not going to transfer ahead till progress has been made on addressing the Israeli-Palestinian battle. 

“I believe we have now all the time seen normalisation as the top end result, however the finish results of a path,” Saudi Overseas Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud mentioned final week on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland.

“We all the time envisioned that there can be full normalisation with Israel, and I’ve mentioned earlier than {that a} full normalisation between us and Israel, between the area and Israel, will carry immense advantages – we gained’t be capable of reap these advantages until we handle the difficulty of Palestine.”

Touted by former president Donald Trump and his aides as an incredible diplomatic achievement, the normalisation offers between Arab states and Israel didn’t remedy the battle between Israelis and Palestinians, and not one of the normalising Arab nations had ever been at struggle with Israel. 

Israel continues to construct and increase settlements within the occupied Palestinian territories in what quantities to de-facto annexation of the land on which a future Palestinian state can be established.

Center East Eye reached out to the White Home, the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington and Israel’s overseas ministry for remark, however didn’t obtain a response by the point of publication.