JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia announced on Friday it was lifting restrictions on “all carriers” using its airspace, an apparent gesture of openness towards Israel hours before US President Joe Biden’s arrival.

The US leader welcomed the “historic” decision, the latest conciliatory move by Riyadh concerning the Jewish state, which it has refused to recognise despite intensive efforts by the Israelis to establish ties with Arab countries.

The Saudi civil aviation authority “announces the decision to open the Kingdom’s airspace for all air carriers that meet the requirements of the authority for overflying”, it said in a statement.

The decision was made “to complement the Kingdom’s efforts aimed at consolidating the Kingdom’s position as a global hub connecting three continents”.

Biden said in a statement later Friday that Riyadh’s move came “thanks to months of steady diplomacy between my administration and Saudi Arabia”, where he is set to travel in the afternoon as part of a Middle East tour.

“As we mark this important moment, Saudi Arabia’s decision can help build momentum toward Israel’s further integration into the region, including with Saudi Arabia,” Biden said.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid thanked Biden on Friday for “long, intense and secret diplomatic negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the United States” to reach a deal on overflights.

“And I want to thank the Saudi leadership for opening their airspace. This is only a first step,” Lapid said.

Prior to Biden’s arrival in Israel at the start of his Middle East trip on Wednesday, Washington had hinted that more Arab nations could take steps to pursue relations with the Jewish state. That spurred speculation about whether Riyadh would alter its long-held position of not establishing official bilateral ties until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.

The kingdom did not show any opposition when its regional ally, the United Arab Emirates, established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, followed by Bahrain and Morocco under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Yet analysts have stressed that any immediate gains are likely to be incremental and that Riyadh will probably not agree to formal ties — not during Biden’s visit or while King Salman, 86, still reigns.

Biden will travel to the Saudi city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast Friday afternoon, despite a previous vow to treat the kingdom as a “pariah” over the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

He is to travel directly from the Jewish state to Saudi Arabia -- becoming the first US president to fly from there to an Arab nation that does not recognise it.

In 2017, his predecessor, Donald Trump, made the journey in reverse.

Shortly after the Abraham Accords were announced in 2020, Saudi Arabia allowed an Israeli aircraft to pass over en route to Abu Dhabi and announced that UAE flights to “all countries” could overfly the kingdom.

Friday’s announcement effectively lifts overflight restrictions on aircraft travelling to and from Israel.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2022