Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu visits Saudi Arabia, official says
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 4 years ago • 15 commentsBy: Paul Goldman and Rachel Elbaum
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Saudi Arabia over the weekend, a senior cabinet minister told local news media, signaling a potential breakthrough for Israel as it strives for acceptance in the region.
Various Israeli news outlets and Axios, citing Israeli sources, reported Monday that Netanyahu had met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — the first known meeting between the crown prince and Netanyahu.
On Israel's Army Radio, Education Minister Yoav Gallant congratulated Netanyahu on the "remarkable achievement" but did not say bin Salman and Netanyahu had met.
Netanyahu declined to comment on the reports Monday, saying only: "I never talked about these kinds of things, and I will not start now. I'm committed to strengthening Israel."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after making a statement in Jerusalem last Thursday. Pompeo has long pushed for the Saudis to normalize relations with Israel.Maya Alleruzzo / Reuters
The State Department also declined to comment. NBC News was not able to confirm that Netanyahu and the crown prince had met.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, meanwhile, denied that a visit took place, saying in a tweet: "no such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi."
Rumors of thawing relations between the two Middle East powers have been swirling for years as the countries have seen their security interests overlap, with both viewing Iran as an existential threat.
If Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, were to accept Israel, it would be a major signal to other Arab and Muslim nations that relations with Israel are no longer off-limits.
Pompeo met Sunday with bin Salman in the new Saudi city of Neom, on the Red Sea, as part of an international tour, likely to be his last as secretary of state. Just after landing, Pompeo said in a tweet that he looked forward to "discussing our efforts to counter terrorism, deter Iran's malign influence, promote respect for human rights, and expand our two-way trade relationship."
Journalists traveling with Pompeo were left on the tarmac at the airport and did not accompany him to the meeting.
The flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.com showed a Gulfstream IV private jet took off from Tel Aviv on Sunday night and flew south along the edge of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula before turning toward Neom and landing. The flight took off from Neom over three hours later and followed the same route back to Tel Aviv.
Pompeo has been pushing for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel, and the meeting Sunday came after the U.S. brokered three deals to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
"It seems as though the Saudis are preparing to normalize with Israel," said Daniel Shapiro, who was U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017 and is a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
"They're preparing their own public. They have already given at least tacit support for the UAE and Bahrain normalization agreements. They have created a narrative in their own media about the failings of the Palestinian leadership. So it seems to be a matter of time," he said.
After the deal with the UAE, Saudi Arabia allowed Israeli airliners to fly over its territory. Before the agreements, Israel had relations with only two Arab countries — Egypt and Jordan.
Saudi Arabia has said that it remains committed to peace on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, which called for normalization of ties with Israel on the condition that Israeli forces were withdrawn from the occupied West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Last month, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief and ambassador to the U.S., slammed the Palestinian leadership for criticizing the decision of some Gulf states to normalize ties with Israel.
Palestinians fear that the Arab world's normalization of ties with Israel will weaken their push for an independent state.
Pompeo has made stops in Israel, where he met with Netanyahu and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani in Jerusalem. He also became the first secretary of state to visit an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
The Associated Press contributed.
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Palestinians fear that the Arab world's normalization of ties with Israel will weaken their push for an independent state.
They (Hamas) really don't want an independent state and remain fixated on the elimination of Israel. Wonder how long it will be before Biden fucks up this normalization of relations among these countries
What they really want is power and money. As long as the conflict remains front and center they remain in power but if there's peace the Palestinian voters will have new goals like jobs, industry, and infrastructure and they will vote for new leadership. Once they get a taste of peace and prosperity they'll want more and they won't want anything or anyone associated with Hamas screwing it up and that's what Hamas is really afraid of. That's why Hamas starts these mini wars with Israel they have no chance of winning, they need victims, they need dead Palestinians to keep the hate fresh and hot.
Pretty much..... Hamas members really have no other marketable skills other than rocket making and weapons procurement.
that crooked fuck better make some new friends. the US gravy train he's depended upon for so long is leaving the station.
do you honestly believe that Congress will stop appropriating funds to Israel?
LOL
I'd guess that Israel is hurrying to lock down as much diplomatic recognition as possible before Jan 20. I don't mean that Biden will try to undo the normalization that has been accomplished... but hey.! why take a chance?
Peace is breaking out like Covid in the Middle East. You won't hear about it, though, unless Biden takes credit.
Maybe, just maybe..... Like Europeans of the past 75 years, they have learned to like what peace has done for them.
Let's hope so. Isn't war generally bad for business?
Bad for business...... detrimental to public heath, raises hell with investors and markets.
It does though get one's county kicked off on urban renewal..
Depends what business you're in.
Actually war is great for business and politicians. But not so much for the regular people.
I wouldn't say peace - I'd say a restructuring among strategic enemies. Iran spinning up Uranium in underground bunkers has Saudi's pissing themselves - while a huge drop in oil dollars in the last five years coupled with the writing on the wall for oil futures long term has everybody trying to develop economic stability before the bottom falls out and they end up like Syria or Yemen.
Lebanon's on the brink of collapse, Syria and Iraq are still a disaster, Iran on the way go being nuclear armed, Afghanistan's about to have the Taliban back in control, Israel's "peace" is at the price of a permanent apartheid state - and the north African states are worse than ever.
Clinton tried in his last days in office to get a peace deal. He came quite close before the Palestinian authority chose to miss the best peace deal they could ever expect to get. Now Trump has deals with Bahrain, Sudan, UAE, and one between Israel and Saudi Arabia would seal his legacy as a peacemaker. A virtually United Arab world at peace with Israel facing down the Islamic regime in Iran where most of its civilian population is pro US would get Trump and Netanyahu and the Arab leaders the peace prize and make going back to the Iran deal virtually impossible for Biden.