Nov. 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
FIFA has announced an agreement to allow direct flights between Israel and Qatar during the 2022 World Cup, which will be held in the latter country, and has stressed that it will allow Israelis and Palestinians to attend the matches.
The agency said in a statement that charter flights will be operated temporarily between Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and Hamad International Airport in Doha, before adding that it will reveal more details in the future.
“Visitors will need to have a registered ID for entry to Qatar during the tournament and a valid flight ticket to travel to and from Qatar,” FIFA said, adding that consular services will be provided to Israeli citizens in coordination with the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Palestinians will have access to consular services at the Palestinian Embassy in Doha.
The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, has been “delighted” with the agreement and has said that “Israelis and Palestinians will be able to travel together and enjoy football together”. “I would like to thank our Israeli, Palestinian and Qatari counterparts for helping to make this happen,” he said.
“Football has the power to unite people, it transcends barriers, crosses all borders and fosters unity. The World Cup is the ultimate symbol of the unifying power of football and today’s historic announcement provides a platform to enhance relations in the Middle East,” he argued.
In response, the director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Alon Ushpiz, stressed that the agreement “will allow Israeli citizens to freely travel to Qatar and attend World Cup matches” and stressed that “all guarantees have been obtained , including access to consular services for Israelis during their stay in Qatar.”
As the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, it promises to be a celebration of football and an opportunity for Israelis to build connections and share cultural experiences with people from across our region and the world.”
A spokesman for the organization of the World Cup has stressed that Doha “has always said that all those who have a ticket will be able to attend the matches in Qatar” and has argued that the announcement “illustrates the (Qatari) commitment to respect the policies and FIFA hosting requirements, including the right of everyone to attend matches.
“This includes the requirement that Palestinian ticket holders and the media be able to travel on these charter flights without restrictions, as they have an equal right to enjoy the tournament, which has something special about it being the first World Cup hosted in the Arab world and Muslim”, has settled.
For his part, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has applauded the “historic step” that the opening of these direct flights between Tel Aviv and Doha during the tournament represents and has assessed that it represents “a great promise of improving personal ties to person and economic relations”.
“As (US) President Joe Biden has said, building regional integration in the Middle East and beyond brings prosperity and security to the peoples of the region,” Blinken said, reiterating that this decision “will benefit Israeli supporters and Palestinians and is a step forward for greater freedom of travel.
“The United States will continue to engage with Israel and our partners in the region for the benefit of all and applauds Qatar and Israel, both close partners of the United States, for the leadership and sportsmanship demonstrated in this deed,” Blinken said, according to a statement. statement published by the Department of State on its website.
The Government of Qatar has so far refused to normalize its diplomatic relations with Israel and has linked this to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Thus, he assured last year that the ‘Abraham Accords’, signed by Israel and several Arab countries — the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — will not resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict since “they do not contemplate no expectation of ending the occupation.
The agreements were signed in 2020 with the mediation of the US Administration of Donald Trump and since then the Israeli authorities have assured that there are several countries in the region that are considering joining them, amid criticism from the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian factions.
