Saudi minister denies meeting between Crown Prince and Israeli officials

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Monday denied reports that a meeting took place between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli officials on Sunday.

“I have seen press reports about a purported meeting between HRH the Crown Prince and Israeli officials during the recent visit by @SecPompeo. No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud tweeted.

I have seen press reports about a purported meeting between HRH the Crown Prince and Israeli officials during the recent visit by @SecPompeo. No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi.

— فيصل بن فرحان (@FaisalbinFarhan) November 23, 2020

Israeli minister confirms meeting

On the other hand, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and Likud party confirmed the reports that the Israeli prime minister had held a meeting in Saudi Arabia, calling it an “amazing achievement”.

“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 Sunday’s visit, in which Israeli media said Netanyahu met the Saudi crown prince and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Netanyahu’s office and the US Embassy in Jerusalem had no immediate comment on the reports.

FLIGHT TRACKING DATA

Netanyahu was joined on his Saudi trip by Mossad director Joseph (Yossi) Cohen, who has spearheaded discreet diplomatic outreach to Gulf Arab states, said the Israeli media reports, quoting unidentified Israeli officials.

Riyadh has so far declined to normalise ties with Israel. But since August it has allowed Israeli airliners to overfly Saudi territory to newly available Gulf destinations and Asia.

Avi Scharf of Israel’s Haaretz newspaper published aviation tracking data showing that a business jet had made a brief trip from Tel Aviv to Neom, on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, where bin Salman and Pompeo had a scheduled meeting on Sunday.

More publicly closing ranks with the Saudi crown prince could help the conservative Netanyahu burnish his statesman credentials as he faces domestic challenges, including a trial on corruption charges, which he denies, and a feud with centrist coalition partner Benny Gantz, Israel’s defence minister.

“Gantz does politics while the prime minister makes peace,” Netanyahu spokesman Topaz Luk tweeted.

Asked on Saturday whether Riyadh had changed its position on Israel, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the kingdom had supported complete normalisation of ties “for a long time”, but on condition that Israel and the Palestinians reach “a permanent and full peace deal”.