Avi Berkovic, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, said on Sunday evening that Saudi Arabia should “take a decision on normalisation” with the Israeli occupation entity.
“We are having positive and encouraging talks on several fronts with Saudi Arabia,” the official said, according to an official Israeli channel.
“At the end of the day, it is a decision they have to make.”
Avi Berkovic, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, led the US delegation, which traveled Sunday afternoon from Tel Aviv with an Israeli delegation to Bahrain.
The plane departed from Ben Gurion Airport to Bahrain International Airport in Manama, via Saudi airspace.
On Sunday evening, Israel announced that it had signed a joint declaration to establish full diplomatic relations with Bahrain.
Earlier, Israeli Mossad (foreign intelligence) chief Yossi Cohen had said Saudi Arabia “should not suspend relations with Israel due to recent relations with the Palestinians,” in a reference to media reports that the Saudi leadership has to resolve ta conflict with the Palestinians in order to take the step of normalisation with the Zionist entity.
“Of course, we all look forward to making progress with the Palestinians and we will certainly welcome any progress in the negotiations between us and the Palestinians in preparation for a future settlement,” Cohen said in an interview with the official broadcaster.
“But this should not be an obstacle or a condition for the continuation of our contacts and the establishment of bilateral relations between us and the countries of the region.”
Saudi Arabia claims to be the Custodian of the Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina, and as such lays claim to a leading position in the Muslim world. Despite this, Riyadh has for decades had close contacts with with the United States and, more secretively, the Zionist entity.
