clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Saudi official denies Crown Prince's visit to Israel

September 12, 2017 at 11:39 am

Retired Saudi General and the chairman of the Middle East Centre for Strategic and Legal Studies, Anwar Eshqi denied Israeli media reports claiming that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman visited Israel last week.

“The reports are totally untrue,” Eshki told Quds Press. “The Crown Prince did not visit Israel, and I did not visit Israel. Everyone should know that according to Saudi law, no Saudi official is officially allowed to shake hands with an Israeli.”

Israeli media reported that “a Saudi Emir has recently visited the country in secret and discussed with senior Israeli officials advancing regional peace.”

A number of Israeli newspapers suggested that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was the one who made the secret visit to Israel and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Read: Israel will attend conference with Saudi Arabia

Eshki explained that Israel wants to suggest to some Arabs and Muslims that the Saudi-Israeli relations are good.

“Saudi Arabia is the only country that does not have relations with Israel, because it understands that if it does, the entire Arab world will follow its lead, therefore it stipulates settling the Palestinian issue before any normalisation of relations,” he said.