This November, thousand of Israelis are expected to travel from Israel to Qatar to participate in the FIFA 2022 World Cup, and Israel has proposed a very interesting initiative; Direct flights from Tel Aviv to Doha.
Israel hopes Qatar will have an interest in cooperating with this proposal, as the initiative comes from senior members of the defense establishment, and is also intended to strengthen ties between the two countries, which exist on a classified level today.
Approximately 15,000 Israelis have won the World Cup ticket lottery that allows them to purchase tickets for the games, and it is estimated that thousands of more Israelis will win more tickets in the additional lottery that is to be held shortly. On top of that, it is expected that many Israelis will purchase tickets separately though agents and ticket offices, bringing the number of Israelis to visit Qatar this year to tens of thousands.
Currently there are no direct flights between the two countries, let alone official diplomatic relations. Israelis attending the World Cup will have to reach Qatar through a third country such as Turkey, Cyprus, Bahrain or Jordan, lengthening the journey that could take only 3 hours on a direct flight, to 7-10 hours on a connecting flight, depending on the waiting time.
This Israeli initiative is expected to be presented to the Qatari authorities soon. It is not clear what their reaction will be, but Israel is optimistic on Qatar’s response to this initiative, as we have seen warming relations between the two countries grow rapidly in the recent years.
Qatar’s Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022, stated in an interview with ESPN that Israelis will be welcome to attend the soccer event in their country.
“Everyone is welcome,” he told ESPN. “We do not mix sport and politics, but we would hope that Palestinians are able to make it too.”
On top of that, Qatar will even offer its Jewish guests Kosher food and a place to pray.
Rabbi and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Marc Schneier, from the Orthodox Hampton Synagogue in Long Island, New York, has been asked by Hassan Al-Thawadi, secretary general of Qatar World Cup organising committee, to help plan the event, organize kosher food and a synagogue.
Today, Israelis can only enter Qatar through foreign passports, but Qatar has already made it clear that during the World Cup it will allow citizens of all countries to enter it. However, it is still unclear whether Israelis will be required to issue visas, or whether it will be possible to present game tickets and book rooms at hotels.
Direct flights from Tel Aviv to Qatar will actually reduce the security risk, because they will make it possible to monitor the ways in which most Israelis arrive in Qatar.
