Israeli PM Refuses To Comment On Supposed Saudi Visit

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to comment on whether he, as has been speculated by a number of outlets, travelled to the city of Neom in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to hold in-person talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

• SKy News' Mark Stone also reports Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz (who is due to take over from Netanyahu in October 2021 as part of a power-sharing agreement) as saying that Netanyahu going for the meeting without informing himself or Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi 'hurt Israel'. Supposedly the two were also left in the dark about the normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain.
• The Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud went onto deny the meeting, tweeting "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", only for Israeli Education Minister Yoav Gallant saying "The very fact the meeting happened, and was outed publicly, even if half-officially right now, is a matter of great importance," when speaking on the radio.
• Even if the meeting did not go ahead, there remains increasing speculation that Israel and Saudi Arabia could be close to normalising relations. If that were to occur it would mark a major and decisive change in Middle Eastern politics, but not necessarily promote peace in the region.
• A closer relationship between Saudi and Israel could see greater cooperation on combating non-state actors backed by Iran (where Israel has notable experience. For both Riyadh and Jerusalem, a key aim would be maintain deep US military involvement in the Middle East as a security guarantor.