Netanyahu, Mossad Chief Reportedly Hold Secret Talks with Saudi Crown Prince

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu flew secretly to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to meet with Saudi Crown Prime Mohammed bin Salman, according to reports in the Hebrew press citing unnamed Israeli sources. According to these reports, Netanyahu was accompanied by Yossi Cohen, who is head of the Mossad intelligence agency and serves as the prime minister’s point man for peace-feelers with Gulf states. Also present was US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is in Saudi Arabia as part of a seven-country tour. The visit reportedly took place in Neom, a developing city on the Red Sea in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The trip lasted for five hours. Netanyahu’s office has yet to comment. Saudi Arabia has been touted as the next Arab country set to make a normalization deal with Israel. Pompeo told a reporter for Al-Arabiya on Sunday in the United Arab Emirates, according to a statement from the State Department, that he was “very confident that other nations will join what the Emiratis have done, the Bahrainis have done, the Sudanese have done, and recognize the rightful place of Israel among nations.” He added: “They’ll do it on their own timing. They’ll do it when they think it’s in the best interest of each of their nations to do it. We don’t set timelines.”