The two companies Etihad Airways (the national carrier of the UAE) and “Wizz Air Abu Dhabi” decided to cancel their participation in an Israeli airshow scheduled for May 5th next, on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, according to a Hebrew newspaper on Tuesday.

The “Israel Hayom” newspaper reported that the Israeli Pilots' Union received two messages on Tuesday from the two companies informing them that they would not participate in the event.

On Sunday, the union announced that aircraft from the two Emirati companies would participate alongside Israeli planes in the airshow on what Tel Aviv calls “Independence Day.”
No official statement has been issued by the two companies on this matter.

According to the newspaper, the withdrawal of the two companies from participating in the airshow comes against the backdrop of tensions in the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Tuesday, the UAE summoned the Israeli ambassador to Abu Dhabi, Amir Hayek, to protest the attacks and raids taking place in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
This is the first step of its kind since the normalization of relations between the two countries and the exchange of ambassadors in 2020.

The UAE Foreign Ministry stated in a statement that the Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Al Hashimy, summoned Hayek and conveyed to him “the state's protest and strong condemnation of the events taking place in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Al Hashimy confirmed to the Israeli ambassador that the events in “Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed assaults on civilians and raids of sacred sites, resulting in injuries to a number of civilians.”

She called for “the immediate cessation of these practices, full protection of worshippers, respect by the Israeli authorities of the Palestinians' right to practice their religious rites, and the halting of any practices that violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

She affirmed “the necessity of respecting the role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the care of the holy sites and endowments according to international law and the existing historical status, and not to infringe upon the authority and powers of the administration of the Jerusalem endowments and the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

She urged “the creation of a suitable environment that enables the return to serious negotiations leading to the achievement of a just and comprehensive peace, and the establishment of the independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Since April 2014, negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian sides have stopped due to Tel Aviv's refusal to halt settlement activities, release veteran detainees, and its abandonment of the two-state solution.
Since Friday, tension has prevailed in Jerusalem amid settlers storming Al-Aqsa Mosque, coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday.