What is the story of the arrival of the first plane from Israel to Algeria with a direct flight?
Two Israeli journalists claimed that a Brazilian Air Force plane landed at the Algerian international airport, Hawari Boumediene, on Tuesday evening, marking the first time in history that a direct flight from Israel to Algeria had taken place.
Journalist Daniel Salami, an expert on Arab world affairs and working for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, claimed that the plane landed at Algeria Airport “minutes ago”.
“For the first time in history: a plane takes off for a direct flight from Israel to Algeria,” journalist Itay Blumenthal claimed in a previous tweet from the same newspaper.
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB2584) aircraft carrying high-ranking officials landed at Ben Gurion International Airport this week. “
According to “Flight Radar” published by the two journalists, the plane changed its course off the coast of Sicily in Italy and deviated to the south.
The two journalists published photos of the route of the plane to confirm their statements, and the plane in question appears as it leaves Tunisian airspace and enters Algerian airspace, without specifying whether it landed at the airport in the Algerian capital or not.
Due to the type of aircraft (FAB2584), it must refuel to continue the route and is not eligible to travel from the eastern Mediterranean to Gibraltar by direct line.
Israeli media and journalists have been heavily reporting about a direct flight between Israel and Algeria.
Israeli outlet Yediot Aharonot was the first to report the news, emphasizing that the Israeli flight made a stopover at the Houari Boumediene Airport.
Israeli media celebrated the reported event, describing it as the first of its kind.
“Brazilian Air Force plane that carried a high-level Brazilian delegation that visited Israel, landed at Houari Boumediene International Airport in Algeri, for the first time in history, from Israel!” Israeli journalist Simon Araan wrote on his Twitter.
The journalist also expressed hope to see Algeria join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered “normalization” agreements between Israel and Arab countries.
“We hope that Algeria will join the peace circle with Israel and that we will see direct flights between the two countries,” he said.
The journalist also recalled that his country has already launched direct flights with the UAE and Bahrain and hopes to soon open a direct flight line with Morocco.
Morocco is among the countries that have publicly announced the establishment of ties with Israel.
The two countries agreed to establish ties on December 10, vowing to cooperate in different fields, including trade and tourism.
Since Morocco announced the rapprochement with Israel, Algeria’s government and media intensified their smear campaigns against Rabat.
Anti-Moroccan propaganda is a defining feature of Algerian political discourse. This time, however, the Algerian regime appears to have embraced anti-semitism to call out the “dangerous” accord between Rabat and Tel Aviv.
Algeria’s Minister of Communication and Spokesperson of the Government, Ammar Belhimer, publicly attacked Morocco and Israel by saying that their rapprochement is a “threat” for the MENA region.
Algeria’s Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad echoed similar sentiments in December. “The Zionist entity has arrived,” he said in reaction to news of the Morocco-Israel agreement.
Nasser Boukadoum, Algeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister set the bar even higher. Algeria, he commented in the aftermath of the Rabat-Tel Aviv accord, has never been “shaken by colonialism and will not be shaken by zionists and whoever allies with them.”
The reported landing of the Israeli flight in Algeria’s main airport stands in stark contrast with the Algerian regime’s constant anti-normalization comments.
Neither the Algerian government nor the country’s state media has commented on the news regarding the Israeli plane’s landing.
