Retired Saudi general visits Occupied Palestinian Territories, meets Zionist officials
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Saudi Retired General Anwar Eshki and a delegation of Saudi academics and business people meet with Israeli Knesset members, July 22, 2016. (Photo by Haaretz)
A well-connected retired general in the Saudi military has traveled to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in the latest indication of a growing link between Tel Aviv and Riyadh which has come to light in recent months.
According to Press TV quoting the daily Ha’aretz, Anwar Eshki made the visit earlier in the week, met with Zionist regime's Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold Yoav Mordechai and a number of Knesset members.
The daily called the visit "a highly unusual one," as Eshki couldn't have traveled to the Occupied Palestinian Territories without approval from the Saudi government.
Eshki and Gold raised an uproar first in June 2015 when they held a publicized joint event in Washington, after meeting several times privately over the preceding year.
Gold attended the event a few days before assuming the role of director general of the Israeli foreign ministry.
Israeli legislator Esawi Freige, who organized Eshki’s meeting with his fellow members of Knesset, shed some light on the trip. "The Saudis want to open up to real," he said.
"This is a strategic step for them. They said they want to continue what former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat started. They want to get closer to Israel. This is clearly evident," Fregie noted.
He was referring to the former Egyptian president's negotiations with Zionist regime, which culminated in the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in 1979 - the first between an Arab state and Tel Aviv at the time.
Haaretz said that during the meeting with the parliamentarians, Eshki encouraged dialog in Tel Aviv on Saudi Arabia's Arab Peace Initiative.
The proposal was unveiled in 2002, offering normalized ties with Zionist regime by 22 Arab countries in return for Tel Aviv’s withdrawal from the occupied West Bank.
During an interview with the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera in April, Eshki said Riyadh would open an embassy in Tel Aviv if Israel accepted the Saudi initiative. He also said the Saudis were not interested in “Israel becoming isolated in the region.”
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