Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi hailed his country's “blossoming ties” with Saudi Arabia during a visit to Riyadh amid continuing US-brokered negotiations to establish formal relations.
Mr Karhi is the second Israeli official to make a public visit to the kingdom in as many weeks as Israel and Saudi Arabia gradually move towards formally establishing ties.
“We greatly appreciate the tireless efforts of the leaders of Saudi Arabia, and our prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for nurturing the blossoming ties between our nations,” Mr Karhi told the meeting of the Universal Postal Union, a specialised UN agency intended to encourage international co-operation in the postal sector, in Riyadh.
“As demonstrated by the Abraham Accords, when nations converge on mutual goals, the outcomes can be monumentally transformative,” Mr Karhi added.
Saudi Arabia did not join the US-brokered Abraham Accords, which saw the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco establish formal ties with Israel in 2020.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News that Riyadh was “getting closer” to establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.
Riyadh is seeking a US-brokered deal that would entail a new defence pack and a civilian nuclear programme, sources from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry have confirmed to The National in recent weeks.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has been committed to normalising relations between both countries and has for several months been in talks on the matter.
Senior US officials have been operating between Riyadh and Tel Aviv, while officials are working closely with Palestinian representatives on parts of the wider deal.
Officials have insisted that any deal Saudi Arabia signs with Israel must honour an agreement that is fair to Palestinians, based on a two-state solution and the Arab Peace initiative Riyadh proposed during the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002.
“With Israel, there is no freebies in this region. The GCC countries are not really in a position to do something extra rather than only look after their interest and their people’s interest,” Saudi political analyst Ali Alibrahim told The National.
“They [Riyadh] are looking also for the benefit of the Palestinian people, they are looking for their dignity. So it has to be solid and defined 100 per cent. It has to be airtight,” he added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to make another round of visits to the region by making potential stops in both Israel and Saudi Arabia later this month amid a diplomatic push to bring broker the deal, according to sources.
While the US State Department has yet to confirm or formally announce Mr Blinken’s trip, his visit is said to include a stop in Ramallah to meet the Palestinian Authority.
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Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
