TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – A plane carrying Israelis returning from the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday before returning to Tel Aviv, which Israel hailed as a sign of goodwill from the US government. . Establish formal relations between the two countries.
An Air Seychelles flight carrying 128 passengers was forced to land on Monday after an electrical failure. The Israeli foreign ministry said the passengers had spent the night at an airport hotel in Jeddah before returning home on alternate flights with the airline.
Passengers described a terrifying experience as a pungent burning smell filled the cabin and the pilot called on the intercom that the plane would be forced to an emergency stop. Saudi Arabia is a kingdom with no flights or diplomatic relations with Israel. .
Passengers said dozens of people were trapped on board and the plane idled on the tarmac, raising tensions and Israeli authorities frantically trying to figure out what to do. Saudi security forces soon escorted the Israelis to the hotel.
“I was so scared,” passenger Mayama Stahl recalled emerging from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport late Tuesday with dozens of other people, including reporters, photographers and party members. It seems that some people were surprised by the flock of balloons. “But we were all very welcome[from Saudi Arabia].
Passengers told the Associated Press that their experience in Jeddah was pleasant, with some Saudis greeting them in Hebrew.
tracking data from FlightRadar24.com Air Seychelles Airbus A320, flight HM22, was shown diverted to Jeddah Monday night over the Red Sea. The airline did not respond to a request for comment.
Another Seychelles Air A320 flight flew from Dubai to Jeddah on Tuesday to pick up travelers and take them to Tel Aviv. In 2022, Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on flying over Israel during President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
Although Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have official ties, the two countries have developed a strong but informal relationship through common ties in recent years. Concern over Iran’s growing influence regional. After Israel and four Arab countries signed a diplomatic normalization agreement in 2020 under the Trump administration, Biden is doing his best A similar agreement will be signed with Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose major goal is a deal with Saudi Arabia, used the incident to highlight the possibility of improving relations.
In a video recorded in Hebrew with Arabic subtitles, he said he was “very grateful for the warm attitude of the Saudi authorities to the Israeli passengers whose plane was in distress,” pointing to a map of the area behind it. said while pointing. “I am very grateful for my neighbors.”
There was no immediate reaction in Saudi Arabia.
the normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, the most powerful and wealthy Arab nation, It has the potential to reshape the region and elevate Israel’s position in a historical way. But Saudi Arabia has said it will not formally recognize Israel until the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved, so brokering such a deal would be a daunting task. Saudi Arabia also appears to want defense guarantees and access to US nuclear technology.
Extracting major concessions from Israel to the Palestinians is the result of the current Israeli regime, composed of ultranationalists who support the expansion of Jewish settlements into lands where Palestinians seek a state and oppose Palestinian independence. down there would be difficult.
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Associated Press reporter John Gambrel of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Isabel Debre of Jerusalem contributed to the report.