Qatar will allow Israelis to fly directly to Doha for World Cup

Israelis will be permitted to fly directly between Israel and Qatar during the soccer World Cup this month, officials from both nations announced on Thursday, in the latest sign of warming ties between Jerusalem and some Arab governments. As part of the deal, Qatar will permit Israeli diplomats, under the umbrella of a private travel company, to provide consular support to Israelis during the tournament. The Israeli public broadcaster, Kan, has also been allowed to set up a temporary studio in Doha to provide Israeli viewers with coverage of the matches. The full details were not available, but those moves, gleaned from interviews and separate statements from Israel and FIFA, soccer’s governing body, fell well short of creating formal diplomatic relations between Israel and Qatar. The Gulf state has ruled out full normalization with Israel until the creation of a Palestinian state. The gestures also have precedent: Israel and Qatar have publicly cooperated on low-level diplomatic and economic issues since the 1990s. But according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, there have never been direct flights between the two countries. The announcement mirrored a wider recent thaw between Israel and certain Arab governments that began two years ago. Then Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates signed full normalization agreements with Israel, in deals brokered by the Trump administration. This year, Saudi Arabia also gave Israeli airlines permission to fly through Saudi airspace, in an arrangement brokered by the Biden administration.<br/>