Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have paid a secret visit to Saudi Arabia yesterday, according to media reports. There he met with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as the Israeli public radio station KAN and the Army Radio announced today. Netanyahu’s office and the US embassy in Jerusalem made no public comment.
The Israeli newspaper „Haaretz“ published air traffic data showing that a business plane flew from Tel Aviv to Neom on the Saudi Arabian coast on the Red Sea. Bin Salman and Pompeo had planned a meeting yesterday in Neom.
Pompeo tried to persuade Saudi Arabia, as well as neighboring Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, to establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel. Riyadh had so far refused to normalize relations with Israel.
