Israeli officials were caught off guard when Riyadh refused to approve a civilian rescue flight out of Saudi Arabia, per i24NEWS correspondent Amichai Stein. Political and secur…
Israeli officials were caught off guard when Riyadh refused to approve a civilian rescue flight out of Saudi Arabia, per i24NEWS correspondent Amichai Stein. Political and security figures had been confident the Saudis would agree.…
Assessment
The Saudis' refusal to clear a civilian rescue flight caught Israeli planners flat-footed. Confident that Riyadh would cooperate, they submitted proposals through El Al and another Israeli carrier, only to be denied. The episode underscores a gap between Israeli expectations of normalized cooperation and Saudi willingness to deliver on it, particularly in a sensitive operational request.