Shea Levin — text status

Saudi Arabia shamelessly refused Israel’s request for an emergency rescue flight to bring Israeli passengers home, despite proposals from El Al and the Israeli Air Force. Officials even considered sending an unmarked aircraft, but Riyadh said no, i24NEWS reports. The request was for an emergency flight to return passengers safely, not an attempt to force normalization. The Israelis ultimately returned on a separate FlyDubai flight. A source close to the Saudi royal court said Israel must understand that “normalization cannot be forced.”