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Israel’s Economy and Industry minister said he “exchanged phone numbers” with Riyadh’s commerce minister in Abu Dhabi.
By: Batya Jerenberg – WorldIsraelNews.com
Saudi Arabia denied on Monday that its commerce minister had met with Israeli Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat in Abu Dhabi the day before at a World Trade Organization conference.
State news agency SPA stated that the Saudi minister, Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi, was standing next to his Nigerian counterpart when “an unknown individual approached the minister to offer greetings” before the conference began.
Quoting an unnamed official source, the agency added that the man then “identified himself as the minister of economy in the Israeli occupation government.”
Al-Qasabi had not known who Barkat was, said the source, which is why he agreed to shake his hand.
The report added the official’s emphasis on the Saudi government’s “steadfast stance on the Palestinian cause and its support for the resilience of the Palestinian people against Israeli aggression.”
Barkat had publicized a picture of al-Qasabi and himself standing together on Sunday along with a very short clip of the handshake.
His office said in a statement that the two had met “at an event of economy ministers taking place in the capital of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi. Minister Barkat and the Saudi minister shook hands and discussed the desire to tighten economic cooperation between the countries and exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch.”
Separately, Barkat said that he had told al-Qasabi, “Israel is interested in peace with peace-loving countries, and we can make history together.”
The Saudi denial came after several Palestinian reports slammed the meeting.
One of the reasons for Hamas’ October 7 invasion of Israel and massacre of 1,200 that sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip was reportedly its fear that Saudi Arabia and Israel were getting close to an agreement on normalizing relations without the insistence on the establishment of a Palestinian state first.
The kingdom has since changed its stance.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal ibn Farhan told a France 24 interviewer last week that the way forward on normalization is by “a ceasefire in Gaza, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Strip and a path towards a Palestinian state. Without this, we cannot consider such a thing.”
One of Hamas’ key demands in any hostage deal is just such an Israeli withdrawal. This is a demand that Prime Minister Netanyahu has called “delusional.”
Netanyahu pointing out that Israel’s security depends on it first completing the job of utterly destroying Hamas’ military capabilities and then maintaining security control over the Strip until its residents are deradicalized.
In other news, WIN reported on Tuesday that Hezbollah has fired some 100 rockets at northern Israel over Monday and Tuesday morning in response to an IDF strike on its stronghold deep in Lebanon Monday.
About 40 rockets were launched over the course of Tuesday morning towards the Galilee and Meron, causing no casualties.
According to the Lebanese terror organization, over 60 were shot yesterday at the Golan Heights, all aimed at an IDF base as retaliation for an Israeli air force attack near the city of Baalbek. No injuries were reported as a result of these rockets, either.
While the IDF did not comment on the Baalbek attack, according to foreign reports, three people were killed in two IDF airstrikes.
