JAKARTA - Israel's Minister of Regional Cooperation, Esawi Freij, on Saturday, July 16, hoped that citizens of his country's Muslim minority could fly directly to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj next year.
The hopes were raised after Saudi Arabia signaled a new openness when it hosted US President Joe Biden.
On Friday, Riyadh said its airspace would be open to all airlines - including a de facto extension of flying rights for Israeli aircraft, previously only to destinations to the Gulf and various routes to Asia.
According to Freij, the Saudi decision demonstrates US-driven efforts for countries to forge more normal relations "towards a very advanced stage" that could "turn dreams into reality" for Muslims like himself.
"I believe that, within a year, Israeli Muslims will be able to fly from Ben Gurion (airport near Tel Aviv) to Jeddah and from there to Makkah to perform the Hajj," Freij told public broadcaster Kan.
But he refused to reveal the basis of the prediction. So from Riyadh, Also no comment.
Last week, Freij said he had asked Saudi Arabia to allow direct Tel Aviv-Jeddah flights for pilgrims. A US official told Reuters on Thursday, July 14, that the permit was being worked on.
Freij said Saudi Arabia had actually been accepting pilgrims from Israel for a long time, but they had to travel through a third country at a cost of around US$11,500 for a week-long trip.
Meanwhile, pilgrims from neighboring countries Saudi Arabia only pay about half of that amount.
Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, does not recognize Israel, and says it must resolve the Palestinian issue first.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
