November 23, 2020 3:59:30 pm
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Abir Sultan / Pool via REUTERS)
Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known meeting between senior Israeli and Saudi officials.
Hebrew-language media quoted an anonymous Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, flew to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince. The prince was there to speak with visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Flightradar24, which provides live flight tracking around the world, showed a plane taking off from Tel Aviv on Monday around 7:30 pm local time and disappearing from the radar near Neom about an hour later. It shows the same flight appearing on the radar near Neom and landing in Tel Aviv around 1am (local time) on Monday. He did not provide any details about the flight.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Israel recently signed normalization agreements with two Gulf states, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and has long maintained clandestine security ties with Saudi Arabia. The Gulf kingdom is rumored to be among other Arab states that are considering establishing open diplomatic relations with Israel.
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