BICOM

A delegation of Saudi Arabian academic and business dignitaries, led by a former-general, visited Israel over the weekend and met with several Knesset members and the head of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Anwar Majed Eshki, a retired Saudi general and ex-adviser to Prince Bandar bin Sultan, is a former Saudi ambassador to the United States. Although he holds no official office, Eshki is considered to be close to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman. On Saturday, Eshki met the Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Dore Gold, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai and several Knesset members including Meretz MKs Michal Rozin and Issawi Frej and Zionist Union MK Ksenia Svetlova.

The Saudi delegation are reported to have been eager to discuss the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-sponsored venture which would see a rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently publicly backed the idea of a regional peace effort, with Egypt’s president keen to spearhead such an initiative. However, Eshki told Army Radio that “there will be no peace with Arab countries before there is peace with the Palestinians”.

Alluding to Iran’s sponsorship of terror groups including Hezbollah, Eshki added: “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the source of terrorism, but it does create fertile ground for acts of terrorism in the region… If the conflict is resolved, the countries that exploit the Palestinian issue, namely Iran, will no longer be able to capitalise on it.”

Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have any established diplomatic relations. Eshki said: “To my knowledge, there is no cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia in counter-terrorism efforts.”

Nonetheless, the two countries and other Gulf states share similar concerns over Iran’s regional ambitions. Eshki and Gold met last year, publicly shaking hands at the Council for Foreign Relations in Washington DC.