Mogadishu
Israel’s tourism minister makes his first official trip to Saudi Arabia to attend a United Nations summit.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have no official relations.
Zein Khalil | September 26, 2023 | Update: September 26, 2023
Israel’s tourism minister makes his first official trip to Saudi Arabia to attend a United Nations summit.
Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to attend a United Nations tourism event, marking the kingdom’s first-ever public visit.
“Tourism serves as a link between nations.” “Partnership in tourism issues has the potential to bring hearts together as well as economic prosperity,” Katz stated, according to the Times of Israel news website.
“I will work to advance cooperation, tourism and the foreign relations of Israel,” he stated.
The Israeli minister will attend a UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) event during his two-day tour, according to Israeli public television KAN.
The Saudi authorities have yet to respond to the Israeli minister’s visit.
In recent months, the US has made efforts to reach an agreement to improve relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have no diplomatic relations, and Riyadh insists that any agreement to normalize relations with Tel Aviv include a component supporting attempts to form a Palestinian state, concessions that Israel has so far bluntly rejected.
Egypt established diplomatic connections with Israel in 1979, Jordan in 1994, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain in September 2020, and Sudan and Morocco later that year.