Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday during his planned visit to the United Arab Emirates, Israeli television reported on Wednesday.
Kan’s public broadcaster said there were “advanced contacts” over the establishment of the seat as part of Netanyahu’s expected meeting on Thursday with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The report, which did not cite any source, did not provide further details.
Separately, Channel 13 reports that Netanyahu may be meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok while in the UAE. According to the report, Israel is in talks to have the meeting take place, but did not give further details.
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Netanyahu met in Uganda last year with General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok at a press conference in Khartoum, Sudan, 21 August 2019. (AP Photo, File)
According to Channel 12, the prime minister will soon be at the airport in Abu Dhabi and Thursday’s journey is not expected to last more than a few hours. The network also reported that Defense Minister Benny Gantz would meet with the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at the UAE arms market last month before the appearance of the Israeli delegation was canceled due to security concerns.
Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia in November to meet with Bin Salman, the first public reporting between the two. Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations, but the clandestine ties have strengthened over the past few years as the two countries face a shared threat in Iran.
The November meeting sparked furious speculation in Israel that a normalization agreement would be possible, following the US mediation agreements reached by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. In December, Morocco agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
From left to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan appear at the Blue Room balcony after signing the Abraham agreement during a ceremony at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, September 15, 2020. (AP Photo / Alex Brandon)
In the wake of these agreements, Trump officials said an agreement with Saudi Arabia was “inevitable”, although Saudi officials said a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians should precede the recognition of the Jewish state.
Officials said last week that the United States wanted to conclude a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but only if Riyadh improved his human rights record. The remarks follow the release of a US intelligence report accusing the Saudi Crown Prince of killing Saudi journalist and royal critic Jamal Khashoggi as part of US President Joe Biden’s desire to forge ties with Saudi Arabia. recalibrate “.
Last month, Hebrew media reported that senior Israeli and Saudi officials had recently held several calls to discuss the Biden government’s plans to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal.
During the talks, the Saudis expressed concern about the new US government and deplored the focus on human rights violations in the kingdom.
According to a report last month, Israel intended to urge the Biden administration not to put regional allies Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates under pressure over human rights issues, for fear that it would harm the Jewish state. may hinder improved ties with some Arabs. countries and strengthen Iran.
Possible quarantine-free travel between Israel, UAE
Kan also reported on Wednesday that Israel and the UAE have begun negotiations to give vaccinated travelers from the respective countries without quarantine.
The aim, according to the report, is to waive the quarantine requirement for those vaccinated in April.
Currently, only Georgia recognizes the “Green Pass” of Israel. The US does not acknowledge this and Israelis traveling there must pass a negative virus test and spend time in quarantine.
Agreements with Greece and Cyprus over the past month that allow ‘Green Pass’ holders to travel between the countries without quarantine or virus testing have so far not been formally implemented.
Medical technicians test passengers for COVID-19 at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on March 8, 2021 (Avshalom Sassoni / Flash90)
Diplomatic sources told the Ynet news website this week that the European Union, of which both Greece and Cyprus are members, strongly objects to any of its members signing separate agreements on travel for the vaccinated.
In particular, according to the report, Germany opposes the idea because it views the ‘vaccine passport’ system as a form of discrimination against those who do not want to be vaccinated, as well as a desire to promote internal tourism within the country. the European bloc.
On Monday, a senior official of the World Health Organization said that the so-called “vaccine passports” for COVID-19 may not be used for international travel at the moment, due to numerous concerns, including ethical considerations that coronavirus vaccines are not readily available worldwide.
AFP contributed to this report.
