- Israeli Minister visits Saudi Arabia.
- Historic diplomatic efforts underway.
- Saudi-Israel relations face challenges.
The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first high-level public visit to the kingdom with the aim of strengthening bilateral relations.
“Katz’s ministry stated that he is the first Israeli minister leading an official delegation in Saudi Arabia,” and added that he would participate in an event by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation in Riyadh.
During the two-day visit, he is scheduled to hold meetings with his counterparts. Katz’s office did not specify which countries will be represented in these talks.
Riyadh made its first delegation to the occupied West Bank in thirty years for this historic visit.
Last month, Nayef al-Sudairi was appointed as the non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories. On Tuesday, he also met with senior Palestinian officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas.
These diplomatic visits come as the United States exerts pressure on its allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, to normalize relations.
Israel normalised relations with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco after a 2020 US-led diplomatic initiative.
Connecting with Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, would represent a Middle East geopolitical victory for Israel.
The previous week, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also stated that “six or seven” Muslim nations could “make peace” with Israel if it signed a peace treaty with Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, he emphasized that “peace with Saudi Arabia means peace with the Muslim world as a whole.”
However, normalizing relations with Israel would contradict Riyadh’s decades-long stance against recognizing Israel until it resolves the Palestinian conflict.
