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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secretly traveled to Saudi Arabia, several Israeli media report. In the city of Neom, he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday, Israeli newspapers reported Monday. Netanyahu was accompanied by the head of Mossad’s foreign intelligence service, Jossi Cohen.
The prime minister’s office reportedly declined to comment on the reports of the extraordinary trip. If confirmed, it would be the first officially recognized trip to Saudi Arabia. Media in Saudi Arabia did not report on a meeting.
Netanyahu’s social media adviser Topaz Luk wrote on Twitter Monday morning that the prime minister was making peace while the defense minister, Benny Gantz, was doing politics. Gantz wants to shed light on procurement processes in a submarine purchasing matter. Netanyahu came under pressure as a result of the matter.
Saudi Arabia initially reacted cautiously to the Gulf states’ agreements with Israel. However, the kingdom freed up its airspace for air connections between the three countries. The overflight ban was based on the fact that Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel as a state and does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.
Israel and the Sunni states of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and its regional ally Saudi Arabia see Shiite Iran as one of the greatest threats to stability in the Middle East.
The Arab states have so far followed the approach of making the resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians a condition for normalizing relations with Israel. A Saudi Arabian peace initiative provides for the normalization of relations between the Arab states and Israel if the Jewish state withdraws from all territories occupied in 1967.
