Riyadh, November 23: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday and met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported today quoting unnamed sources. According to the report, the meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took place in Neom city and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen was also present. Saudi King Points to Iran as Top Threat in Policy Speech.

To back its claims, Haaretz newspaper published aviation tracking data showing that Netanyahu's private jet had made a brief trip from Tel Aviv to Neom, where Bin Salman and Pompeo had a scheduled meeting on Sunday. "The flight remained on the ground for about two hours and returned to Israel at around half past midnight," the newspaper reported. Netanyahu had used the same plane to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin several times. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Visits Museum in Israel’s Jerusalem Honoring Christian Zionists.

Netanyahu's "secret" visit to Saudi Arabia comes amid Mike Pompeo's tour of Gulf Arab states after a US-brokered agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize ties. The Israeli government has so far not denied the meeting. If true, the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to Saudi Arabia assumes huge significance as Riyadh has so far declined to normalise ties with Israel over the issue of Palestinian statehood.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 23, 2020 01:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).