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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia, where he met with Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, writes The Guardian, citing Israeli media. If confirmed, it would be one of the very few high-level encounters between old enemies, on the initiative of Israel, striving to be accepted in the region.
Jewish newspapers wrote that Netanyahu was accompanied by Mossad leader Yossi Cohen. The Saudi state media did not refer to the meeting, while the Israeli prime minister’s office did not answer questions.
Air traffic monitoring sites they registered a private plane, previously used by Benjamin Netanyahu, took off Sunday night from Tel Aviv and landed in the Saudi Red Sea city of Neom, where Prince bin Salman had a scheduled meeting with Mike Pompeo. The plane remained on the ground for several hours, after which it returned to Israel.
Separately, Netanyahu’s media adviser, Topaz Luk, provided a clue about the meeting, tweeting that Netanyahu was “making peace” while his rival Benny Gantz was “making politics.”
Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed normalization agreements in September in a ceremony held on the White House lawn in the presence of United States President Donald Trump.
Even if such an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia was not feasible, Sunday night’s trip would mark a major diplomatic victory for Israel. While the two countries, as well as the other Arab states, have a common enemy in Iran, the Palestinian occupation has isolated Israel in the Middle East.
The Trump administration, close to Netanyahu, has been making efforts in recent weeks to support the Israeli government.
On this tour, Mike Pompeo became the first American diplomat to pay an official visit to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank – obvious support for the nationalist movement to take over the occupied Palestinian territories.
Publisher: Bogdan Pacurar
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