Netanyahu visit is publicised by Oman
FOR THE first time in over two decades, an Israeli Prime Minister visited an Arab state with which his country does not have diplomatic relations.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s surprise trip last Friday came as Israel and the Gulf states are being increasingly open in their engagement. Just two days later, a delegation of Israeli athletes arrived for a judo competition in Abu Dhabi, accompanied by Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, and the Israeli national anthem was played when its athletes won medals.
Israeli officials said Mr Netanyahu’s meeting with Sultan Qaboos of Oman was important “in the fact that it took place”, but that they did not expect it to have much of a direct influence on Israel’s stagnant negotiations with the Palestinians.
One diplomat termed it “breaking the glass ceiling” because while similar meetings have been kept under wraps in the past, this time it was officially announced by Omani media.
Similarly, Mrs Regev’s visit to the United Arab Emirates along with the judo delegation was afforded all the official trappings, including a tour of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
But it was easy to remember that Israel’s ties with the states of the region remain far from normal and there is, as yet, no prospect of full diplomatic relations being established. Officially, Israelis are still not allowed to visit, although many quietly do, and Israeli journalists were not allowed to report from the judo competition.
The largest and most powerful Arab Gulf nation, Saudi Arabia, has extensive ties with Israel on secu- rity matters — but only last month, reports of a meeting at a conference in Washington, DC between the Saudi army’s chief of staff and his Israeli counterpart Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot, was officially denied by the defence ministry in Riyadh.