Israeli President on a secret visit to Saudi Arabia; Iran media reports -

Tehran: Israeli President Isaac Herzog had said, ‘If Saudi Arabia joins Abraham’s family, I will openly visit Saudi Arabia.’ President Herzog called on Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accord during an interview with a local daily on Israel’s Independence Day. But Iranian media claim that Israeli President Herzog paid a secret visit to Saudi Arabia. According to Iranian media, Herzog’s private plane landed in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Israel is celebrating its 74th Independence Day. On this occasion, President Herzog said in an interview that he would like to establish cooperation with Saudi Arabia like other Arab countries. President Herzog also made a suggestive statement that Saudi Arabia’s participation in the Abraham Accord depends not only on Israel but also on Saudi and US-Saudi relations. This short excerpt from the interview with the Israeli President was released. But even before the interview was fully publicized, Iranian media reported that the Israeli President had arrived in Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, the 9H-JPC private plane landed in the Saudi capital Riyadh from Tel Aviv, Israel. Earlier, the aircraft had landed in Jordan, an Iranian newspaper reported. The news agency claims that Israeli President Herzog flew to Saudi Arabia on this private plane. Iran’s leading news channel also reported that an Israeli plane had landed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But Iranian media did not provide details on when the Israeli plane landed in Saudi Arabia.

According to Iranian news channels, this is not the first meeting between Israeli and Saudi leaders or officials. In September 2020, then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Iranian media are reporting that the meeting took place in the Saudi city of Neom.

The Iranian news channel reminded that Israel and Saudi Arabia decided to open airspace for each other’s passenger planes in the same year. Last month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told US media that Saudi Arabia does not consider Israel an enemy country. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed also hinted that cooperation with Israel could be established if the Palestinian issue was resolved.

Meanwhile, in 2020, the UAE and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accord with Israel. Then-US President Donald Trump brokered the accord. The Iranian news agency says the UAE and Bahrain would not have been able to reach a deal with Israel without the consent of Saudi Arabia, which leads the Arab world. The Iranian news channel claimed that the UAE, Bahrain and later Morocco and Sudan had established cooperation with Israel only after Saudi permission. However, critics say that Saudi Arabia has not joined the Abraham Accord, citing the possibility of a backlash from the Islamic world. However, Iran and other anti-Saudi countries have accused Saudi Arabia of cooperating with Israel at various levels without publicizing it.