Etihad in Second Flight to Israel, This Time Proclaiming Its Name

(Bloomberg) --

A second cargo flight from the United Arab Emirates in three weeks landed in Israel on Tuesday, and this time, the plane is displaying the airline’s name -- making the emerging transport links even more transparent.

The Etihad Airways jet arrived at Ben Gurion Airport complete with its company insignia and markings. Photos of the aircraft on the ground at the airport near Tel Aviv, along with its cargo, were distributed by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

While Israel and the UAE don’t have diplomatic relations, ties between them have warmed in recent years, largely over a shared distrust of Iran. Still, there were no publicly known flights between the countries until the cargo shipment last month, which arrived in a white, unmarked jet.

An Etihad spokesperson confirmed earlier in the day that it would deliver additional medical aid for the Palestinians on June 9, after operating a dedicated humanitarian cargo flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv on May 19.

The shipment contains humanitarian aid, which will be transferred to the Palestinians through the United Nations, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said. The plane is scheduled to depart from Ben Gurion at 10:50 p.m., an Israel Airports Authority spokesman said.

While Israel said the aid would be distributed to both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas-controlled Gaza, the Palestinian Authority, which is responsible for territories in the West Bank, said following the first shipment that it would decline to accept it, because it wasn’t coordinated with them.

The Palestinian news agency Maan reported that the supplies were rejected because the Palestinian Authority doesn’t want to serve as a bridge for the normalization of ties between the UAE and Israel.

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