Israeli media have claimed that their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, secretly traveled to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
According to flight tracking data, a plane previously used by Netanyahu flew to Neom, Saudi Arabia, where Mohammed bin Salman and Mike Pompeo held talks. This has not yet been formally confirmed.
This will be the first such meeting between the leaders of historically hostile countries. The United States wants diplomatic relations between the two countries.
President Donald Trump has recently played a role in Israel’s diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
Saudi Arabia has cautiously welcomed the move, but has indicated it will not follow through until a peace agreement is reached between Israel and Palestine.
So far, neither Saudi nor Israeli officials have confirmed that Netanyahu was on board, but Israeli media outlets appear to be making credible claims.
Journalist Barak Rawid tweeted that according to ‘sources’, the Israeli Prime Minister secretly went to Neom where he met with Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and the US Secretary of State.
He added that Yossi Cohen, head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, was also with him on the occasion. Barack claimed that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office had declined to comment, but did not deny the allegations.
He further claimed that according to flight tracking data, the plane took off at 5 pm yesterday, reached the shores of the Red Sea and five hours later took off for Israel.
It should be noted here that in August this year, Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced that they had agreed on a peace agreement and the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The UAE’s boycott law was then repealed by a UAE government order, which would allow Emirati residents and companies to establish financial transactions, links and agreements with Israeli residents and companies.
Then in October, first Bahrain and then Sudan announced the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel. All three agreements were reached under US auspices and President Donald Trump is calling them a success in his foreign policy.
It is unclear whether President-elect Joe Biden will continue President Trump’s foreign policy after taking office. After the recognition of Israel by the above-mentioned countries, there was speculation that Saudi Arabia would establish relations with Israel, but so far Saudi Arabia has not made any progress in this regard.
Also this month, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said in an interview that he was under pressure from some countries to recognize Israel, but the Pakistani Foreign Office later denied this.
