Tel
Aviv officially allowed Israelis to travel Saudi Arabia for first time. In a
signal of warming ties between the regimes of Israel and Saudi Arabia, Tel Aviv
has officially allowed Israelis to travel to Saudi Arabia for the first time as
the two sides speed up normalization efforts.
On
Sunday, Israel’s interior ministry announced that Interior Minister Arye Dery
has signed a directive according to which Israelis are permitted to visit the
Arab kingdom for the first time in the occupying regime’s history, Israel’s
leading daily Haaretz reported.
It,
however, added that the ministry’s decision, which was made in coordination
with the Israeli military, only allows two groups of Israelis to go to Saudi
Arabia.
The
first group includes Arab Muslims who want to perform the annual pilgrimages
known as the Hajj and the Umrah in the holy city of Mecca. Israeli pilgrims
have so far visited Saudi Arabia for performing such Islamic rituals on
temporary Jordanian papers.
The
second group consists of those Israelis who want to go to the Arab kingdom and
stay there for business reasons, such as investment or meetings, and whose
permission is limited for up to 90 days. These travelers need an invitation
from Saudi authorities and are required to go through the necessary paperwork
to enter Saudi Arabia.
Until
now, Israeli law banned residents from visiting many Arab countries, including
Saudi Arabia, without express permission from the interior minister and visits
by Israeli businessmen were generally done in secret.
Saudi
authorities have not yet commented on the issue.
Israel
has full diplomatic relations with only two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, but
latest reports suggest the regime is working behind the scenes to establish
formal contacts with Persian Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
In
an unpublicized visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled in
late November 2018 to Oman, where he met with late Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al
Said at the Bait al-Barakah Royal Palace in the coastal city of Seeb near the
capital Muscat.
The
unusual visit is considered by many as attempts made by Tel Aviv to normalize
ties with Arab countries.
Saudi
Arabia has expanded secret ties with Israel under Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, the son of King Salman, who is viewed by many as the Kingdom’s de facto
ruler. The young prince has made it clear that he and the Israelis stand on the
same front to counter Iran and its growing influence in the Middle East.
Back
in 2018, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for a commercial flight to Israel
with the start of a new Air India route between India and Israel, although El
Al Israel Airlines might not use Saudi airspace for eastward flights.
Critics
say Saudi Arabia’s flirtation with Israel would undermine global efforts to
isolate Tel Aviv and affect the Palestinian cause in general. They say Riyadh
has gone too far in its cooperation with the Israelis as a way of deterring
Iran as an influential player in the region.
No comments