MEMOMon, 23 Nov 2020 02:19 UTC
© IL Prime Ministry/Anadolu AgencyIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu • US Sec. of State Mike Pompeo
Jerusalem, Israel, 19 November 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret trip to Saudi Arabia yesterday to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Accompanied by Chief of Israeli Mossad Yossi Cohen, the Israeli officials apparently joined Bin Salman and Pompeo in Neom on the Red Sea coast, according to an aviation tracking data,
Haaretz reported.
Flight-tracking websites showed that the plane was grounded for approximately two hours before it returned to Israel about half an hour past midnight.
A senior Saudi adviser told the
Wall Street Journal that the
leaders discussed several issues, including normalisation of ties and Iran, but that no substantial agreements were reached."The very fact the meeting happened, and was outed publicly, even if half-officially right now, is a matter of great importance," Education Minister Yoav Gallant told Army Radio when asked about the visit.
Yesterday's meeting marked the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials, as the US is pushing for more ties between Israel and some Gulf Arab states. The Israeli prime minister's office and officials in Saudi Arabia did not respond to requests for comment.
During a meeting with the Saudi foreign minister last month, Pompeo had urged the Saudis to consider normalising relations with Israel. "We hope Saudi Arabia will consider normalising its relationships as well, and we want to thank them for the assistance they've had in the success of the Abraham Accords so far," Pompeo said.
The United Arab Emirates (
UAE) and
Bahrain signed normalisation
deals with the occupation in September, becoming the third and fourth Arab countries to establish diplomatic relations with Israel after
Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
The
deals have drawn widespread condemnation from Palestinians, who say the accords ignore their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.
Riyadh has so far declined to normalise ties with Israel, saying Palestinian statehood goals should be addressed first. However, the
Saudis have allowed Israeli airliners to overfly their territory, a decision announced the day after Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, met with Bin Salman in Riyadh.
Comment: Saudi FM denies the meeting with Netanyahu and Pompeo and MBS took place!
Riyadh has denied claims that the Israeli PM became the first leader of the Jewish state to meet Saudi officials on the weekend through secret engagement with Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to comment.
An Israeli minister said on Monday that Netanyahu had jetted into the new Saudi Red Sea city of Neom for talks with the Crown Prince and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who the Israeli PM hosted in Jerusalem last week as part of the US politician's tour of the Middle East.
But later on Monday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan poured cold water on the claims that unprecedented Israeli-Saudi talks had taken place. "No such meeting occurred," he tweeted. "The only officials present were American and Saudi."
The head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Yossi Cohen, was reportedly also present, Army Radio and Kan public radio reported on Monday.
Flight-tracking data showed that a private jet previously used by Netanyahu for international visits flew from Tel Aviv to Neom on Sunday night. The report claims that the plane is the same one Netanyahu took to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin and the one he intended to use for his trip to the White House.
During his visit to Neom, Pompeo reportedly tried to encourage Saudi Arabia to follow fellow Gulf nations UAE and Bahrain in normalizing relations with Israel amid fears over the growing nuclear capabilities of Iran on the other side of the Persian Gulf.
Bin Farhan said at the weekend that Riyadh had "supported normalization with Israel for a long time, but one very important thing must happen first: a permanent and full peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians."
"Ejoy the show...." :-/