Israel drops Saudi Arabia from virus quarantine list, after Netanyahu's secretive visit

On Tuesday, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reported trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel's health ministry has added the Kingdom to a list of coronavirus "green" countries; which exempts any returning travellers from quarantine.

The Israeli health ministry confirmed this development, with the Director-General of the Health Ministry Hezi Levi stating that "The process is very simple and it happens once every two weeks [...] on the previous list Saudi Arabia was red, the morbidity rates decreased - it's now green".

Levi dismissed any relationship with the Prime Minister's secretive visit to the Kingdom, adding that "It has nothing to do with anyone's visit to any country".

There have been conflicting reports and speculation pertaining to Saudi Arabia becoming the latest Arab state to normalise ties with Israel, with Riyadh firmly denying any intention to normalise relations until the Palestinian conflict is resolved.