IOF chief Aviv Kochavi flew through Saudi airspace months ago
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Days after Riyadh announced the opening of its airspace to Israeli aircraft, the IOF spokesperson exposed that Aviv Kochavi flew over Saudi Arabia three months ago.
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Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi (Archive)
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi flew over Saudi Arabia three months ago, the IOF's spokesperson Ran Kochav revealed on Sunday shortly after the Gulf state announced it would open its airspace to Israeli flights.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli carrier El Al requested that Saudi Arabia allow overflights this week.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced last Friday that Saudi Arabia is opening its airspace for all civil air carriers for overflying.
Last Wednesday, CNN cited sources familiar with the matter that Saudi Arabia was planning to permit flights to and from the occupied lands.
At the time, GACA claimed that the decision comes as part of Riyadh's desire to fulfill its obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, which stipulates non-discrimination between civil aircraft used in international air navigation, as well as to complement the country's "efforts aimed at consolidating the Kingdom's position as a global hub connecting three continents and to enhance international air connectivity."
US President Joe Biden on Thursday rushed to hail the Saudi decision to open its airspace to Israeli carriers, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
It is worth noting that Biden arrived in Jeddah last Friday for two days of meetings with Saudi officials, less than a day after the kingdom announced it would open its airspace to all carriers, including those departing from "Israel".
Biden boarded Air Force One at 5h53 pm local time, just under two hours after departing “Israel's” Ben Gurion Airport in "Tel Aviv".
“Israel” and Morocco: Cooperation rooted in blood
On Kochavi's upcoming trip to Morocco, the spokesperson praised further developing ties with the country, which established diplomatic ties with “Israel” under the Abraham Accords in 2020.
“Israeli officers took part in an exercise, in uniform, with the Israeli flag, in Morocco two or three weeks ago, and now we have the visit of the IDF [IOF] chief of staff. We will exercise together, train together, develop our defense ties, maybe even develop training ties, intelligence, other capabilities, all as part of the Abraham Accords, and bilateral relations with Morocco,” Kochav said.
Last November, Israeli occupation Security Minister Benny Gantz and Morocco's Minister in charge of defense administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi, signed a memorandum of understanding on security cooperation between the two sides.
Morocco, "Israel", and the US signed a tripartite agreement on December 23, 2020, which included several memoranda of understanding to establish relations between Morocco and the Israeli occupation under Washington's sponsorship.
Morocco is the fourth Arab country, following the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan, to have normalized ties with the Israeli occupation.
The Moroccan national carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) recently announced the start of direct flights to "Israel", a year after normalizing ties.
On July 16, 2021, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate signed a cooperation agreement with Morocco, the first of its kind in the field of cyber security since the normalization of ties between Morocco and the occupation.
Read more: Normalization: A stab in the back to the Palestinian cause
