First commercial flight from Israel, equipped with air defense system, lands in UAE

Flight no ‘PVT2357’ from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi equipped with a special system to protect against air hazards such as surface-to-air missiles has landed.

The aircraft is equipped with Direct IR Countermeasures (DIRCM) defence systems developed by Elbit Systems to detect and jam the infrared threats of surface-to-air missiles fired by aircraft.

This system is also called a portable defence system.

The development of a defence system for commercial aircraft began in 2002 after an attempt was made to shoot down an Israeli passenger plane in the Mombasa area of ​​Kenya.

The plane narrowly escaped a missile strike at the time.

Israel, US officials leave for UAE to sign an agreement

On the other hand, according to the report of the foreign news agency Reuters, the top Israeli officials and the top adviser of the US President Donald Trump have left for the UAE in this plane to finalize the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the Jerusalem Post, before the talks begin in Abu Dhabi, the delegates will take the Israeli commercial plane directly from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to make the history of aviation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on the social networking site Twitter that “For the first time in history: an Israeli commercial flight to the United Arab Emirates. This is what peace for peace looks like.”

לראשונה בהיסטוריה: טיסה מסחרית ישראלית לאיחוד האמירויות. ככה נראה שלום תמורת שלום🇮🇱✈️🇦🇪

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בוקר טוב ישראל! pic.twitter.com/8To00kzHTf

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) August 31, 2020

On August 13, the agreement to normalize relations between the UAE and Israel was the first such development between an Arab country and Israel in more than 20 years.

Palestinians are deeply concerned by the UAE’s move that the Arab countries’ demand for a Palestinian state and Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories will go unnoticed.

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According to the pilot’s announcement, the flight was 3 hours and 20 minutes. The word ‘peace’ on the plane is written in Arabic, English and Hebrew on the cockpit window.

The US delegation is led by Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to Donald Trump and son-in-law, and Robert O’Brien, a national security adviser.

On the other hand, the Israeli team is being led by O’Brien’s counterpart Mir Ben Shabat, and officials from both sides will seek bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade and tourism.

Speaking to reporters at the airport before boarding the plane, Jared Kishner said: They will have forgotten the past and will move forward.