Netanyahu links the cancellation of his trip to the UAE to Saudi Arabia’s high-profile “missiles.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that “missiles” over Saudi Arabia had blocked his plane from crossing the airspace of the Kingdom into the UAE after Jordan prevented it from crossing its airspace.
In an interview with Channel 13, Netanyahu referred to last week’s attacks on Saudi oil facilities in Dammam, which were claimed by the Houthis, and referred to “missiles a week ago in the skies of Saudi Arabia.”
“I do not want to go into details,” Netanyahu said. “Jordan needs a good relationship with Israel no less than we need a good relationship with it,” he added.
According to the Ynet website, despite the opening of a direct flight route between Israel and Abu Dhabi through Saudi airspace, Netanyahu was scheduled to fly to Amman from Ben-Gurion Airport and then to Abu Dhabi on a luxury private jet.
The flight was canceled after Jordan barred Netanyahu from entering its airspace on Thursday, while Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah was barred from entering Mubarak al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday evening, claiming He said this was due to a violation of security arrangements.
On Friday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi confirmed that his country had blocked Netanyahu’s flight to the UAE.
