OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli media reports and a government source said Monday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met for landmark talks in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but Riyadh denied that the meeting took place.
The reports fuelled speculation that the Jewish state may be getting closer to normalising ties with the biggest Gulf power after its recent historic US-brokered deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Israeli public broadcaster Kan and other media said Netanyahu and Mossad spy agency chief Yosef Meir Cohen had met Saudi de facto ruler Prince Mohammed, together with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the futuristic Red Sea city of NEOM on Sunday.
An Israeli government source who requested anonymity confirmed the reports to AFP. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan then strongly denied the report that suggested Saudi Arabia was moving away from its decades-old stance of refusing dialogue with the Jewish state until the Palestinian conflict is resolved.
"I have seen press reports about a purported meeting between HRH the Crown Prince and Israeli officials during the recent visit by @SecPompeo," Prince Faisal tweeted.
"No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi."
Pompeo has confirmed he was in NEOM as part of a Middle East Tour and met with Prince Mohammed, who is widely known by his initials MBS. The US State Department declined to confirm a trilateral meeting.
Netanyahu, asked about the Saudi trip during a public meeting Monday of his Likud party, said: "I have never commented on these things and I do not intend to start now."
Israel's normalisation deals with UAE and Bahrain, known as the Abraham Accords, were brokered under US President Donald Trump, who leaves office in less than two months. Sudan has also agreed in principle to normalise ties with Israel.
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