Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates, citing a disagreement with Jordan over crossing its airspace.
Israel normalised ties with the UAE last year and has been bound by a peace treaty with Jordan since 1994.
“His visit was postponed due to difficulties in co-ordinating his flight in Jordanian airspace,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said on Friday AEDT.
The statement said that the overflight row stemmed from the cancellation by Israel of a planned visit on Wednesday by Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa mosque compound is Islam’s third holiest site and Jordan is the custodian of the compound, known by Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif and as the Temple Mount by Jews.
The crown prince’s visit was called off following “a dispute over security and safety arrangements at the site”, the Israeli statement added.
Mr Netanyahu later said he had spoken with UAE leader Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
“We agreed that we would meet very soon, … and that the UAE would invest $US10bn in investments in Israel,” the Israeli leader said.
The UAE said the $US10bn fund would “invest in and alongside Israel, across sectors including energy manufacturing, water, space, healthcare and agri-tech,” according to the UAE’s official news agency WAM.
Read the article in The Australian (AFP).