madaresharghi [1]
An Israeli cabinet minister said that Israel has had covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a first disclosure by a senior official of long-rumored secret dealings.
The Saudi government had no immediate response to Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz’s remarks. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also did not respond immediately to a request to comment, Reuters reported on Monday.
The remarks came amid increased tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran that has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Riyadh and Tel Aviv to work together.
In an interview on Army Radio, Steinitz, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, did not characterize the contacts or give details when asked why Israel was “hiding its ties” with Saudi Arabia.
He replied: “We have ties that are indeed partly covert with many Muslim and Arab countries, and usually (we are) the party that is not ashamed.
“It’s the other side that is interested in keeping the ties quiet. With us, usually, there is no problem, but we respect the other side’s wish, when ties are developing, whether it’s with Saudi Arabia or with other Arab countries or other Muslim countries, and there is much more … (but) we keep it secret.”
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, asked about reports of cooperation with Israel, cited a Saudi peace initiative, first adopted in 2002 by the Arab League, as key to forging any relationship.
“We have always said that if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved on the basis of the Arab peace initiative that Israel would have enjoyed normal relations, economic, political, diplomatic relations with all of the Arab countries, and so until that happens, we don’t have relations with Israel,” he said.
That plan makes those relations contingent on a full withdrawal by Israel from territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East war, including East Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
Last week, the Israeli military chief, Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot, told an Arabic language online newspaper that Israel was ready to share “intelligence information” with Saudi Arabia, saying their countries had a common interest in standing up to Iran.
Saudi Arabia has accused Tehran of trying to expand its influence in Arab countries, often through proxies including the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
In public remarks in September, Netanyahu pointed to covert relationships with Arab states, saying, without mentioning any by name, that cooperation exists “in various ways and different levels”.
Also in September, Israel Radio reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had secretly met officials in Israel that month, drawing an official denial from Riyadh.
Last month, Saudi former intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal shared a stage with ex-Israeli Mossad spy agency director Efraim Halevy at a debate on Iran in a New York synagogue.
In 2016, former Saudi general Anwar Eshki visited Israel, where he met Israeli legislators, to promote – as he has at various academic forums – the Saudi peace initiative.