Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi attended a prayer service in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, marking another stride toward normalization between Israel and the Sunni kingdom. The prayer service, which took place in Karhi’s hotel in Riyadh, celebrated the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and included a minyan of at least 10 men. Pictures from the event showed participants in traditional prayer shawls, holding branches and an etrog, a citron fruit used in the holiday rituals.
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The Torah scroll used in the service had a dedication to King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and their ministers. Karhi landed in Saudi Arabia as part of an Israeli delegation attending the Universal Postal Union’s 2023 Extraordinary Congress. This visit follows a similar journey by Haim Katz, another Likud party member, making him the first Israeli minister to visit Saudi Arabia.
The visits coincide with ongoing US-brokered talks aimed at formalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The Saudi crown prince recently said that normalization with Israel was getting closer, while emphasizing that the Palestinian issue remains significant.