The announcement by the aviation authorities in Saudi Arabia that from now on Israeli planes will be allowed to fly in its airspace was seen in Israel as another act on the long road to normalizing relations with the kingdom. However, in order to fly to the East, the consent of the sultanate of Oman to pass through its airspace is required as well. Indeed, Oman itself is a leading candidate for normalizing relations with Israel.
Israel has enjoyed quiet but warm relations with Oman for about fifty years. In fact, the ties between Israel and Oman are perhaps the oldest of Israel's ties with the Arab Gulf states. With the rise of Sultan Qaboos to power in 1970, Israel began assisting in the stabilization of his rule. Later, the cooperation was tightened in other areas such as desalination and irrigation. Oman was also the first of the Gulf states to approve the establishment of an official Israeli diplomatic delegation in the Gulf, ahead of Qatar. Three Israeli prime ministers have visited Oman: Yitzhak Rabin, who came to the sultanate in 1994, Shimon Peres in 1996, and Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018, all apparently in transit through Saudi airspace. Oman announced the closure of the Israeli delegation in its territory after the outbreak of the second intifada.
In 2020, Haitham bin Tariq took power in the sultanate, continuing the work of his predecessor's delicate balance in foreign policy and maintaining close ties with most of the regional players, including Iran on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and the United States on the other, and assisting in mediating between them. Though Oman has declared its support for the Arab Peace Initiative as a condition for normalization with Israel, in practice Jerusalem and Muscat maintain normal political relations between them. Therefore, Israeli-Omani progress toward public diplomatic relations depends mainly on the degree of commitment to the move shown by the United States and what will be willing to give to Oman in return, as well as on the degree of sensitivity by Oman to its relations with Iran, which has recently increased its threats in the wake of tightening relations between the Gulf states and Israel.
The announcement by the aviation authorities in Saudi Arabia that from now on Israeli planes will be allowed to fly in its airspace was seen in Israel as another act on the long road to normalizing relations with the kingdom. However, in order to fly to the East, the consent of the sultanate of Oman to pass through its airspace is required as well. Indeed, Oman itself is a leading candidate for normalizing relations with Israel.
Israel has enjoyed quiet but warm relations with Oman for about fifty years. In fact, the ties between Israel and Oman are perhaps the oldest of Israel's ties with the Arab Gulf states. With the rise of Sultan Qaboos to power in 1970, Israel began assisting in the stabilization of his rule. Later, the cooperation was tightened in other areas such as desalination and irrigation. Oman was also the first of the Gulf states to approve the establishment of an official Israeli diplomatic delegation in the Gulf, ahead of Qatar. Three Israeli prime ministers have visited Oman: Yitzhak Rabin, who came to the sultanate in 1994, Shimon Peres in 1996, and Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018, all apparently in transit through Saudi airspace. Oman announced the closure of the Israeli delegation in its territory after the outbreak of the second intifada.
In 2020, Haitham bin Tariq took power in the sultanate, continuing the work of his predecessor's delicate balance in foreign policy and maintaining close ties with most of the regional players, including Iran on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and the United States on the other, and assisting in mediating between them. Though Oman has declared its support for the Arab Peace Initiative as a condition for normalization with Israel, in practice Jerusalem and Muscat maintain normal political relations between them. Therefore, Israeli-Omani progress toward public diplomatic relations depends mainly on the degree of commitment to the move shown by the United States and what will be willing to give to Oman in return, as well as on the degree of sensitivity by Oman to its relations with Iran, which has recently increased its threats in the wake of tightening relations between the Gulf states and Israel.