Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised on Sunday that Israel will soon offer direct flights from Tel Aviv to Mecca in Saudia Arabia. “We will have direct flights for Muslim Israeli pilgrims from Tel Aviv to Mecca,” Netanyahu told a number of Israelis media outlets in interviews on Sunday. The prime minister’s pledge was both a hint to a possible normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia and a pre-election pitch to Arab-Israelis. However, perhaps in response to Netanyahu’s comments, a former senior adviser to the Saudi government said on Monday that the Saudi kingdom would not normalize ties with Israel before the establishment of a “totally independent” Palestinian state. The former adviser, Nawaf Obaid, who published his comments in the Palestinian Al Quds newspaper one day before the Israeli elections, is still close to the royal family, which means that his comments are a message to Israel from the Saudi kingdom, according to a Kan News report. “Theoretically, some believe, Crown Prince bin Salman would wish to advance the normalization of relations with Jerusalem, but he is cognizant of the risks in adopting a position that includes recognition of Israel,” Obaid wrote. “If this were to happen there would be repercussions not only in the Saudi kingdom, the richest nation and one with an important religious and national role but also in the entire Arab and Muslim world. The vast majority in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, continue to hold the views of King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who declared that his kingdom will be the last Muslim nation to recognize Israel. That historic announcement cannot be discounted,” Obaid stated decisively. “There is no denying that the door to normalization was opened and we must remember that Saudi recognition of Israel depends on the Palestinians establishing a “totally” independent state.” Israel and Saudi Arabia do not maintain official diplomatic relations although the two countries maintain unofficial ties, which have been deepening in recent years, mainly due to their shared concerns on the Iranian threat. The prime minister flew to Saudi Arabia in November and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, their first publicized meeting. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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