The United States congratulates FIFA, Israel, and Qatar on the historic step of opening direct flights between Tel Aviv and Doha for the duration of the World Cup and commends the efforts that went into arriving at this arrangement.  Today’s announcement is a historic development and an important step that also holds great promise to bolster people-to-people ties and economic relations.  As President Biden has said, building regional integration in the Middle East and beyond brings prosperity and security to the people of the region.

We welcome the statement that this move will benefit Israeli and Palestinian soccer fans alike, as a step towards expanding greater freedom of travel for all consistent with Qatar’s pledge that all are welcome at the World Cup.  The United States will continue to engage with Israel and our partners across the region for the benefit of all, and commends Qatar and Israel, both close partners of the United States, for their leadership and spirit of sportsmanship that they have demonstrated with this development.