Israeli leader pays surprise visit to Oman to talk peace

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday returned from an unannounced visit to Oman, the two countries confirmed, meeting the Gulf state’s leader in the first visit of its kind in over 20 years.

The surprise visit was an important accomplishment for the Israeli leader, who frequently boasts of warm- ing behind-the-scenes con- tacts with Gulf Arab states. But there were few concrete details on his talks with Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

The sultanate has long had a low-key role in fostering nego- tiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Days before Netanyahu’s visit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also visited Oman, raising the possibility that Oman might be trying to help revive negotiations or push forward a trou- bled U.S. peace plan.

Oman, which sits on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, with Saudi Arabia to its north and Iran to its east, also has a long record of being a quiet broker in the region, opting to stay on the sidelines of the rivalry between the two regional powerhouses.

Netanyahu and Sultan Qaboos issued a joint state- ment saying the two sides “discussed ways to advance the Middle East peace process and discussed a number of issues of mutual interest to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.”

While Oman’s influence over Israel and the Palestinians is limited, its unique regional position could enable it to play a bigger role mediatbetween Israel and archen- emy Iran.

Israel has repeatedly expressed concern about Iran’s military activities and support for Shiite militias in neighboring Syria and warned that it will not allow Iran to maintain a permanent military presence in Syria. In recent months, Israel has carried out a number of strikes on Iranian positions in Syria.

In addition, U.S. sanctions on Iran are to soon go into effect after the Trump administration, with strong Israeli support, backed out of the international nuclear agreement with Iran negotiated by the Obama administration.

Netanyahu’s office said he had been invited by the sultan after lengthy communications. Oman state TV carried images of the two leaders meeting and Netanyahu shared a video of his visit on his official social media accounts, calling it “a special visit to Oman — making history!”

Israel and Oman do not have diplomatic relations. Israel is officially recognized by only two Arab states — Egypt and Jordan.

The meeting was the first between leaders of the two countries since then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres visited in 1996.

A senior Palestinian official said the sultan had offered to play a role mediating between the Palestinians and Israelis, and that Abbas had said he welcomes any “meaningful” peace process. But the official said the visit was mostly connected to Oman’s “regional role.”

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Israel and the Palestinians have not held substantive peace talks for the past decade.