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Israel silent after Oman votes to expand boycott of occupation state

December 28, 2022 at 10:31 am

Citizens use their votes by phone as part of online voting system during local elections in Muscat, Oman on December 25, 2022. [Ahmed Abd Alkawey/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images]

Israeli authorities remained silent yesterday after an Omani parliamentary proposal to expand the boycott of Israel and criminalise the normalisation of ties, Anadolu Agencyreported yesterday.

According to the Times of Israel, the Omani draft law may have been tied to “Israeli efforts to secure Omani authorisation for civilian overflights of the country.”

The United States held talks with Oman earlier this year in an attempt to push Muscat to open its airspace for Israeli aircraft, but the Gulf country refused.

Israeli media also quoted Israeli officials saying that Oman was moving “to allow Israeliplanes heading to Asia to fly over its airspace.”

Relations between Oman and Israel have always been nonexistent, but several joint meetings were reported to have been held between the two governments in recent years.

Oman’s Shura Council on Monday voted on a draft amendment to expand its law banning ties with Israel. The amendment is for Article 1 of the Royal Decree, which currently bans “interaction with the Zionist entity for private and public figures.” The proposed amendment is also reported to include a ban on any sports, cultural, or economic contact, and on interacting with Israelis in person and online.

Only EgyptJordan, the United Arab EmiratesBahrainSudan and Morocco have normalised ties with Israel.

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