During a visit to Riyadh, an Israeli minister celebrated the “flourishing relationship” between Israel and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday October 4. This positive development comes as negotiations, brokered by the United States, continue in the effort to establish official diplomatic ties.
An Israeli minister on Wednesday hailed his country’s “blossoming ties” with Saudi Arabia during a visit to Riyadh amid ongoing US-brokered negotiations to establish formal relations.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi this week became the second Israeli cabinet member to formally visit the Saudi capital, heading a 14-member delegation to a United Nations conference.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, has never recognized Israel and long insisted it would not do so without a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has been pushing for a landmark normalization deal that could reorder the Middle East.
Riyadh did not join the US-brokered Abraham Accords which saw its Gulf neighbors Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Morocco establish formal ties with Israel in 2020.
Addressing the UN conference, Karhi called the Abraham Accords “monumentally transformative”.
His visit comes days after the first official trip by an Israeli cabinet member, Tourism Minister Haim Katz, who last week attended a separate UN meeting in Saudi Arabia. Katz did not make any public remarks.
The White House said last week Saudi and Israeli negotiators were moving towards the outline of a deal.
Riyadh is bargaining hard for security guarantees from Washington as well as assistance with a civilian nuclear program that would have uranium enrichment capacity.
The Palestinians have warned that they must be taken into account in any deal, and it is unclear what concessions Israel might be willing to make.
During his trip to Riyadh, Karhi also toured a 500-year-old Torah scroll on display at an annual book fair.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
