Alwaght- A retired Saudi general has visited Tel Aviv, suggesting that Al Saud is getting closer to Arabs' top enemy, Israeli regime.
According to Israel-based daily, Ha’aretz, Anwar Eshki made the tour earlier in the week and met with Israel’s foreign ministry director general Dore Gold Yoav Mordechai and a number of Knesset members.
The daily called the visit "a highly unusual one," as Eshki couldn't have traveled to Israel without approval from the Saudi government.
Since The US has announced that West Asia was no longer an advantageous region for the US and its priority has shifted to the East Asia, as well as Eastern Europe, Al Saud has also shifted its stance towards Israel and tried to get closer to Tel Aviv to find an alternative supporter.
Moreover, nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1, more than ever paved the way for Riyadh’s drawing closer to the Israeli regime, as both regimes were against the nuclear deal claiming it can increase Iran's influence across the region.
The retired Saudi general and Israel's Dore Gold have previously met in June 2015. Uproar raised when they held a publicized joint event in Washington, after meeting several times privately over the preceding year.
Gold attended the event a few days before assuming the role of director general of the Israeli foreign ministry.
Israeli legislator Esawi Freige, who organized Eshki’s meeting with his fellow members of Knesset, shed some light on the trip. "The Saudis want to open up to rael," he said.
"This is a strategic step for them. They said they want to continue what former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat started. They want to get closer to Israel. This is clearly evident," Fregie noted.
He was referring to the former Egyptian president's negotiations with Israel, which culminated in the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in 1979 - the first between an Arab state and Tel Aviv at the time.
Haaretz said that during the meeting with the parliamentarians, Eshki encouraged dialog in Israel on Saudi Arabia's Arab Peace Initiative.
The proposal was unveiled in 2002, offering normalized ties with Israel by 22 Arab countries in return for Tel Aviv’s withdrawal from the occupied West Bank.
During an interview with the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera in April, Eshki said Riyadh would open an embassy in Tel Aviv if Israel accepted the Saudi initiative. He also said the Saudis were not interested in “Israel becoming isolated in the region.”
Back in May, Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva reported that Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies, namely Jordan and Egypt, had been sending messages to Israel through various emissaries, including former British PM Tony Blair.
They had asked Tel Aviv to resume Middle East negotiations under new terms, which included changes to the Saudi initiative, the paper said.
Most Arab governments have no diplomatic relations with Israel. Even so, reports have indicated that several of them, including Saudi Arabia, have had secret relations with Tel Aviv.
