Israeli Minister's prayerful visit to Riyadh signals thawing ties with Saudi Arabia

Source: Jerusalem Post

As a sign of movement on the road to peace with Saudi Arabia, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi read from a Torah Scroll and prayed the morning service at his hotel in Riyadh together with others in his 14-member delegation.

“Here in Riyadh we prayed with the windows open to Jerusalem,” said Karhi, who also had a lulav and etrog with him for the special prayer uttered during the Sukkot holiday.

He arrived in Riyadh on Monday night together with Knesset Economic Committee Chairman MK David Bitan to attend the Universal Postal Union’s Fourth Extraordinary Congress.

"Shalom Israel," Bitan said just after his arrival.

Karhi added, "Happy holiday, we just landed now in the capital of Saudi Arabia as part of an official delegation authorized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

“Our faces are to peace," he said.

Here "we will meet with representatives from around the globe and we will bring peace closer between Israel and Saudi Arabia," Kahri stressed.

Bitan said, "Everything begins with small steps.”

Sign of warming ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia

Karhi is the second Israeli minister to land in Saudi Arabia in the last two weeks, a move that is viewed as a sign of warming ties between the two countries that lack diplomatic relations.

Tourism Minister Haim Katz was the first Israeli minister to land in Riyadh when he attended the conference of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Karhi is expected to address the Extraordinary Conference on Wednesday.

He will also meet with the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the Turkish communications minister.

The trip comes as Washington and Riyadh are working on a security pact that would include a normalization agreement with Israel and an interim deal with the Palestinians.