Associated Press quoted Israeli media on the 23rd that Prime Minister Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia on the evening of the 22nd local time and held a secret meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed. According to reports, this will be the first known high-level meeting between Israel and Saudi Arabia so far.
Associated Press: According to reports, the Israeli Prime Minister flew to Saudi Arabia to meet with the Crown Prince
According to the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal, the Hebrew-language media quoted unnamed Israeli officials as saying that Netanyahu secretly traveled to the “New Future” city in northwestern Saudi Arabia on the 22nd to participate in the meeting with Secretary of State Pompeo. Meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed. Jussi Cohen, head of the Israeli Intelligence and Secret Service (Mossad), also accompanied Netanyahu.
Associated Press also quoted data from the FlightRadar24 website, which provides real-time flight status, saying that just after 17:40 GMT, a Gulfstream IV private jet took off from Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel. According to aviation data, the plane flew south along the eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula, then turned to the “New Future” city, and landed after 18:30 GMT. At around 21:50 GMT, the plane took off from the “New Future” city and returned to Tel Aviv along the same route.
report also stated that Pompeo was traveling with a group of American journalists during his visit to the Middle East, but when Pompeo met with the Saudi Crown Prince, he left the media at the “New Future” airport.
Associated Press stated that at present, neither the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office nor Saudi officials have commented on this, and Saudi official media have not yet confirmed the itinerary of the Prime Minister’s visit.
On September 15 this year, US President Trump presided over the signing ceremony of the agreement on the normalization of relations between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain at the White House. Trump also said after the ceremony, “We have made tremendous progress with about five other countries.” As the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East changes, the international community has also speculated about who will be next. However, so far, Saudi Arabia has not reached an agreement to normalize relations with Israel.
