Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, citing a disagreement with Jordan over crossing its airspace.

A statement from the premier's office said he "was expected to visit the United Arab Emirates today but, due to difficulties in coordinating his flight in Jordan's airspace, the visit was postponed."

It did not set a new date.

The Hebrew-language statement said that the overflight row "apparently stemmed" from the cancellation by Israel of a planned visit Wednesday by Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein to the Al-Aqsa mosque in annexed east Jerusalem.

The prince's visit was called off following "a dispute over security and safety arrangements at the site," the Israeli statement said.

There was no immediate comment from Amman.

Israel and the UAE established ties last year in a diplomatic coup for Netanyahu brokered by his staunch ally, US president Donald Trump.  

The deal made UAE only the third Arab state to establish relations with Israel, following Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan subsequently reached similar US-brokered agreements with Israel.