US hoping to bring Netanyahu, Saudi crown prince together in historic meeting

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his team have been mediating between Israeli and Saudi Arabia for the past few months.

By JNS

Intensive talks are underway between Washington, Jerusalem, Cairo and Riyadh to convene a summit in Cairo, possibly before Israel’s March 2 election, that would serve as a venue for a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, senior Arab diplomatic sources said on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his team have been mediating between Israel and Saudi Arabia for the past few months, the sources told Israel Hayom.

“In recent days there have been very intensive discussions between Washington, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to arrange a summit meeting in Cairo as early as the coming weeks, even before the election in Israel, which aside from the host, Egypt, will be attended by the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and also the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Bahrain and Oman,” said one of the sources.

Jordan has also received an invitation, according to other Arab sources, but Jordan’s King Abdullah wants Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to also get an invitation. The United States has let Jordan know that such talks are underway and that Israel has agreed to Palestinian participation, according to the report.

A senior PA official confirmed this information to Israel Hayom and said that, for now, “Abbas and the leadership in Ramallah would adhere to their boycott of Washington and to freezing diplomatic ties with Israel.”

According to this official, Washington has told the Palestinians that “this would likely be Abbas’s and the Palestinians’ last chance to climb down from the tree and partake in the diplomatic developments unfolding in the region.”

IsraelSaudi ArabiaState Department