This is the first time that an Israeli minister has visited Saudi Arabia publicly. Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz landed in the Middle Eastern country on Tuesday, his office announced. “Haim Katz is the first Israeli minister to lead an official delegation to Saudi Arabia,” welcomed the Ministry of Tourism in a press release, adding that he would participate in a meeting of the World Tourism Organization in Riyadh.
At the same time, a delegation of officials from Saudi Arabia, led by Nayef al-Sudaïri, recently appointed ambassador of the kingdom for the Palestinian Territories, arrived Tuesday morning in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank, said Yousra Sweiti, interim governor from the city.
Reconciliation between Israel and Saudi Arabia
This is the first visit by an official Saudi delegation to the West Bank since the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords in Oslo (September 1993) which allowed the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. It comes against the backdrop of an unprecedented rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia which the Palestinians are worried about.
“The Saudi ambassador entered the Palestinian zone,” confirmed Nazmi Mouhanna, director general of borders of the Palestinian Authority. Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Amman, Nayef al-Sudairi was appointed non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian Territories in August and is expected to present his credentials to President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. (12 p.m. French) in Ramallah.