display

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has traveled to Saudi Arabia on a visit.

Education Minister Joaw Gallant confirmed reports from domestic media on Monday.

According to the state radio station Kan and the army radio, Netanyahu met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday and also met with the outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Gallant spoke of a "great success".

It was of great importance that this meeting took place and was made known semi-officially, he told the army radio.

It is the first public trip by an Israeli head of government to Saudi Arabia.

A journalist for the newspaper "Haaretz" had published aviation data showing the flight of a business plane from Tel Aviv to the Saudi Arabian city of Noem on the Red Sea.

The Crown Prince and Pompeo wanted to meet there on Sunday.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was accompanied on his trip by foreign intelligence chief Joseph Cohen.

Cohen is an important advocate of discreet efforts to establish diplomatic contacts with the Gulf States.

There was no mention of Netanyahu's visit in the Saudi Arabian state media.

display

Saudi Arabia, however, denied on Monday that such a meeting had taken place.

The Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan wrote with a view to the media reports on Twitter: “There was no such meeting.

The only government representatives present were American and Saudi Arabian. "

Pompeo is trying to persuade the regional superpower Saudi Arabia to establish official relations with Israel like its neighbors United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The background is on the one hand fears that Iran is gaining power in the region and on the other hand the approaching end of the term of office of US President Donald Trump, who was defeated by challenger Joe Biden in the election earlier this month.

So far, the Saudi royal family has refused to normalize relations with Israel.

However, it now allows Israeli aircraft to cross domestic airspace for new destinations in the Gulf region and for destinations in Asia.