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According to a report by Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, Mossad boss Yossi Cohen is most likely a top official visiting the Saudi Arabian capital.
Cohen was responsible for coordinating secret relations between Israel and the Gulf Arab states prior to normalization and had a hand in formalizing relations between Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with organizing Netanyahu’s visit to Oman in October 2018. Al Araby, Saturday (5/12/2020).
Netanyahu, along with Cohen, paid a secret visit to Saudi Arabia on November 22, where he stayed in the city of Neom for about three hours. He participated in meetings with the Secretary of State of the United States (US) and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud did not know of a secret meeting between his son and Israeli officials, Saudi sources later said.(Also read:Israeli PM Visits Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, King Salman Unannounced)
The meeting has been denied and condemned as a “rumor” by Riyadh, although several Saudi and Israeli sources confirmed it took place.(Also read:The Saudi Foreign Minister denies that Crown Prince MBS met Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu)
Last week, it was revealed that Prince Mohammad bin Salman plans to normalize relations with Israel after President-elect Joe Biden took office in the White House.(Also read:Israeli Minister Confirms Meeting of Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince)
Saudi Arabia is among a number of Arab states that are rumored to have considered a deal with Israel in recent years, but the crown prince and de-facto ruler appear hesitant to follow in the footsteps of the UAE and Bahrain this year.
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, better known as MbS, scrapped plans to normalize relations with Israel after Biden was declared the winner of the November 3 US presidential election, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A historic US ally, Riyadh has suffered a reputation damage in Washington since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Although President Donald Trump supported MbS, both Republicans and Democrats joined the popular call for sanctions and a halt to arms exports over Khashoggi’s killing as well as Saudi Arabia’s leading role in the brutal war in Yemen.
The future Biden-Harris administration is expected to take the human rights abuses committed by Riyadh more seriously and pursue greater accountability on issues such as the detention of human rights activists.
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