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BFF-24
ISRAEL-SAUDI-US-DIPLOMACY
Israeli PM held secret talks in Saudi with Pompeo, crown prince: media
JERUSALEM, Nov 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu held secret talks in Saudi Arabia Sunday with Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, media said, in the first reported trip by an Israeli premier to
the kingdom.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Israel last week, was also at
the reported talks, a diplomatic correspondent at Israeli public broadcaster
Kan said on Monday.
The broadcaster cited unnamed Israeli officials as saying that Netanyahu
and the head of the Mossad spy agency Yossi Cohen “flew yesterday to Saudi
Arabia, and met Pompeo and MBS in the city of Neom”, referring to Prince
Mohammed’s initials.
Multiple other Israeli media outlets reported similar information on
Monday morning.
Netanyahu’s office was not immediately available to comment on the
reports.
The meeting comes after Israel agreed historic deals to normalise ties with
two Saudi allies in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Those accords were brokered by outgoing US President Donald Trump’s
administration.
US and Israeli officials have repeatedly indicated that more Arab states
were set to forge ties with Israel.
Publicly, Saudi Arabia has said it would stick to the decades-old Arab
League position of not having ties with Israel until the Jewish state’s
conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1500 hrs