Israel‘s minister reaches Saudi Arabia first time in history. Israel’s tourism minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, making it the first official visit by a member of the Israeli cabinet to the country to attend a UN tourism conference.
As part of a two-day visit, Minister Haim Katz arrived in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is considering a possible deal that would be mediated by the US and establish official ties with Israel, whose sovereignty it has never formally recognized.
According to Reuters, the Saudi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tuesday marked the first visit by Saudi Arabia’s non-resident ambassador to the Palestinians, whose appointment was announced last month. He presented credentials designating him as “consul-general in Jerusalem” as well.
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As Israel’s minister reaches Saudi Arabia first time in history, many members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist religious alliance have long rejected Saudi Arabia’s demand that recognition of Israel be conditional on the Palestinians’ right to statehood. Saudi Arabia is home to the two holiest shrines in Islam.
The ambassador, Nayef Al-Sudairi, told reporters in Ramallah that his visit “reaffirms that the Palestinian cause and Palestine and the people of Palestine are of high and important status and that in the coming days, there will be a chance for a bigger cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the state of Palestine”.
Haim Katz is an Israeli politician. He currently serves as the Minister of Tourism. Katz was the Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Services from 2015 to 2019, and served as a member of the Knesset for One Nation between 1999 and 2003, and for Likud between 2003 and 2023.
