El Al flight
El Al flightiStock

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed the agreement with Saudi Arabia, which announced Wednesday that it will permit United Arab Emirates flights to "all countries" to pass through its airspace.

"For years I've been working to open up the skies of Israel to the East. It was a great thing when, two-and-a-half years ago, Air India was given permission to fly directly to Israel."

"Now, there is another huge breakthrough: Israeli planes and planes from all countries will be able to fly directly from Israel to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and back. It will reduce flight costs, it will shorten time, it will allow tremendous tourism, it will open our economy.

"It will do another thing - it will open the East. When you fly to Thailand or anywhere else in Asia, it will shave hours and prices. This is great news for you, the citizens of Israel. These are the fruits of true peace.

"I want to thank Jared Kushner and Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed for this important contribution today. There will be a great deal more good news to come."

Earlier this week, the historic first flights from Israel to the United Arab Emirates and back again flew over Saudi Arabian airspace. However, it was not clear at first if the permission was granted on a one-time basis, or if it would continue afterwards as well.