Israeli Prime Minister and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) are seemingly relying on each other “to dispel ill winds blowing from the incoming administration” of US President-Elect Joe Biden, Foreign Policy reported.
In a report late on Monday, the US news publication said Netanyahu’s apparent trip to meet with MBS on Sunday “raises the tantalizing prospect of Saudi Arabia joining the new alliance of Gulf Arab states with Israel.”
“It also seems to show how the former enemies are relying on each other to dispel the ill winds already blowing in their direction from the incoming Biden administration.”
FP described Netanyahu and MBS as the “greatest beneficiaries of US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy,” noting that the two “now seek to insulate themselves against indications they’ll soon be shunned by the Biden White House as rogue actors.”
Netanyahu canceled a cabinet meeting on Sunday and slipped into a private business jet for the one-hour flight across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia’s western coast, FP said citing media reports. The Israeli PM spent as much as five hours with Saudi Arabia’s heir to the throne, joined by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, it added.
The issues discussed during the meeting have been a matter of wild speculation, with some reports saying the four discussed possible strike on Iran, while others saying they tackled the normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist entity.
The meeting was meant “to nail something down” before Trump leaves office and “send a signal to the Biden administration,” FP quoted Joshua Teitelbaum, a professor at Israeli Bar-Ilan University, as saying.
The message is that “these are two major allies in the region who are getting together,” Teitelbaum, who is writing a book on the history of the Saudi military, added.
It appears, however, that the message wasn’t meant for the public: After news of the Sunday flight was leaked to Israeli media on Monday and confirmed by both Israeli and Saudi officials, it was officially denied by Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, FP added.
Source: Foreign Policy
