The former leader of Israel’s intelligence
agency Mossad visited
Saudi Arabia in secret in 2014, in an effort to rally
support against Iranian influence, Israel’s Channel
13 News revealed on Tuesday evening.
The dispatch is the latest to come from a report
on covert efforts between Israel and
the Gulf countries to normalise security and diplomatic
ties over recent years, as Tel Aviv presses for open
ties with its Gulf allies at a Middle
East summit in Warsaw today.
The report revealed that the then-chief of Mossad, Tamir Pardo, made a behind-the-scenes visit to the Saudi capital where he met with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, King Abdullah’s special envoy to discuss the Iranian issue shortly after the nuclear deal was signed between Iran and the major powers, bringing to end the sanctions that had crippled the Islamic Republic for decades.
The meeting was unprecedented due to the fact that until that point, Saudi officials had only met with Israeli officials in a third country, refusing to host them themselves.
The report, quoting unidentified Western
diplomats, said that by the end of 2013, following the
signing of the interim nuclear deal, there was a major
breakthrough in relations between Israel and Saudi
Arabia.
The report comes as Netanyahu suggested at
an anti-Iran summit in Warsaw on Wednesday that he
would make public Israel's covert normalisation of ties
with many Gulf states.
With the exception of Egypt and Jordan, who have signed treaties with Israel, no other Arab state has official direct relations with Tel Aviv. However a series of under-the-table deals and alliances are gradually being unearthed.
The
ultra-conservative kingdom, concerned about
international rapprochement with its regional nemesis,
reportedly decided to ally with Israel, who is equally
opposed to any move that will enable the strengthening
of Iranian influence.
Israel and Iran consider each other their
primary enemy, while Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for
influence in the wider region.
Bandar bin Sultan is believed to have developed the
sharing of Saudi and Israeli intelligence during
his tenure as director general of the Saudi
Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014, before he
became King Abdullah's envoy and adviser.
These ties have accelerated since Mohammed bin Salman
became crown prince and de facto ruler, as he has also
been developing an anti-Iranian front to
include Hizballah and Lebanon.
Channel 13's report also reveals how a Saudi proposal to lead peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians amid the 2014 Gaza War was rejected by Netanyahu, to the Saudis’ bitter dismay.
The report comes as the Saudi monarch reaffirmed his support for a future Palestinian state. Meeting with the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, King Salman said his country "permanently stands by Palestine and its people's right to an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital", reported the official Saudi Press Agency.
The pledge comes as the United States is expected to offer hints of its proposals for peace between Israel and the Palestinians at a conference on Wednesday in Warsaw, Poland.
