Israel PM refuses to confirm or deny secret Saudi visit

After media reported that Israeli Prime Minister flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Benjamin Netanyahu refused to confirm or deny his visit. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has also denied the reports.

Jerusalem:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday refused to confirm or deny a visit to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as reported by Israeli media.

The alleged visit would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials.

"I have never addressed such things along the years and I will not start with that now. For years I have spared no effort to strengthen Israel and expand the circle of peace", Netanyahu said during a meeting with his Likud Party.

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The reported meeting was the latest move by the Trump Administration to promote normalised ties between Israel and the broader Arab world and reflected the shared concern of all three nations about Iran.

The Israeli news site Walla, followed quickly by other Hebrew-language media, cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, flew to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince.

The prince was there for talks with visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Meanwhile, people travelling with Pompeo have also declined the comment.

The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, also denied on Twitter that the meeting took place.

“No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi,” he wrote. He did not elaborate.

The reported meeting puts even more pressure on Iran ahead of an incoming Biden administration that has signalled a potential willingness to return to the 2015 nuclear deal.

In an apparent message to President-elect Joe Biden, Netanyahu said in a speech, shortly before the reported trip to Saudi Arabia: “We must not return to the previous nuclear deal."

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Netanyahu has long signalled back-channel relations with the Saudis, though the nations have never officially confirmed a meeting between their leaders. But Saudi Arabia appears to have given its blessing to the decisions of its Gulf neighbours, the UAE and Bahrain, to establish ties with Israel.

The kingdom approved the use of Saudi airspace for Israeli flights to the UAE. Bahrain normalizing ties also suggest at least a Saudi acquiescence to the idea, as the island kingdom relies on Riyadh.

AP