JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may meet with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first state visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported Wednesday evening that Israel and the Saudi kingdom are in advanced talks to organize the meeting. According to the report, Netanyahu would meet with Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and then the Saudi Crown Prince would join them.
That would not be the first time Netanyahu has met with bin Salman. The prime minister flew to Saudi Arabia in November 2020 to meet him, fueling speculation that Saudi Arabia was on the cusp of normalizing ties with Israel. Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have formal diplomatic relations but have strengthened clandestine ties over the years.
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The former Trump administration brokered the peace agreements between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan. Morocco also agreed to re-establish ties with the Jewish State.
Former President Donald Trump said it was “inevitable” that Saudi Arabia and Israel would normalize ties. However, Saudi Arabia has long maintained that normalization must come after Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace deal.
The Biden administration has said it wants to broker a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but first, the Saudi Kingdom must improve its human rights record. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have raised concerns over Biden’s goal to revive the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal that Trump abandoned in 2018.
Israel and Saudi Arabia both consider Iran to be their arch enemy and claim Tehran is pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Netanyahu’s visit to Abu Dhabi was supposed to happen months ago but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. He will only be on Emirati soil for a few hours and will fly back to Israel on Thursday.
During his visit, he is expected to celebrate Israel’s new relationship with the UAE and praise their warm peace. The trip comes less than two weeks before Israel’s fourth national election in two years.
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