WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington's efforts to forge closer ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel are facing setbacks after the Saudi crown prince and two of his aides have been involved in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmad Asiri, close to the Saudi crown prince, who played key roles in secret communications, lost their jobs because of that, the newspaper said.
She stressed that the international uproar and the repercussions of the assassination inside the Royal Court have reduced Bin Salman's ability to maneuver and engage in a risky external adventure, such as communicating with Israel.
The newspaper pointed out that al-Qahtani had already issued directives to the Saudi press to change the perception of Israel's image in the kingdom as the Zionist enemy.
Asiri, the former deputy intelligence chief, was Saudi Arabia's top official traveling to Israel to discuss how the kingdom could benefit from modern surveillance technology.
The newspaper pointed to the relations between the parties to reference to the participation of Israeli companies in the offers in the city of Newum, and meet Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, several Saudi officials several times last year.
She noted that this setback in relations will affect Trump's efforts to reorganize the Middle East, contain Iran and resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
But despite the decline, Saudi-Israeli relations are likely to continue because of their common trade and security interests, the paper concluded.