Israir

Transferring certain authorities to local councils would allow municipilities to individually conclude whether they would prefer to run public transportation services during Shabbat.

The country joins a number of other destinations such as Georgia, Dubai, Cyprus, Montenegro and Greece, which will open on April 14 for tourism.

Starting from Tuesday, Israir will organize a flight a day reserved to those who are entitled to the green passport.

The rescue flights are meant for Israelis who were abroad when the decision to shut down the country's airport was made, as well as for Israeli patients who require medical treatment abroad.

In October, Rami Levy made a low NIS 70 million bid for the airline, but he later raised it in line with other competing offers.

Meanwhile, dozens of passengers who were about to depart from Ben-Gurion Airport to Dubai have canceled their flights and have returned home.

Israir CEO Uri Sirkis said that "If all parties are serious, it will be possible to open direct lines within three months."

"When we land in Israel we clap our hands," Netanyahu noted, referring to an Israeli tradition of applauding whenever landing back in Israel after a trip abroad.

In September, Saudi Arabia declared that it will be allowing all foreign civilian flights to fly over its airspace, but didn't mention Israel.

Later on Monday, Israir received approval from Greek authorities to send rescue flights to Thessaloniki for the purpose of returning Israelis home.