The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz runs a story suggesting that there will be some sort of official meeting between Saudi and Israeli government officials as a result of the on-going Arab League talks. It would certainly be to Israel’s advantage to have a public meeting as it would at least suggest that the Saudis are comfortable with the way talks about Abdullah’s 2002 Peace Plan are going. For the Saudis, it would be a mixed bag.

The Saudi government could demonstrate that it is serious about resolving, once and for all, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the other hand, such a meeting would provide red meat to those who see Israel as an entity to be wiped from the face of the earth. Both Iran and Bin Laden would not be well pleased and would make noise about it.

The article notes that Israelis have been meeting with third-parties to talk with the Saudis. There have also been numerous reports about direct meetings between low-level officials of both countries in secret.

Official: Israel ‘not far’ from meeting with Saudis
Barak Ravid and Shahar Ilan

Israel is “not far from a photo op with the Saudis,” a senior government source said yesterday following a historic visit to Jerusalem on behalf of the Arab League by the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan.

The source added that talks with the Saudis have been taking place via a third party for some time.

Egypt’s Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Jordan’s Abdelelah Al-Khatib came to promote the Arab peace initiative, which the Arab League summit in Riyadh reaffirmed earlier this year. The two met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and also visited the Knesset.

During the meeting, Olmert stressed the importance of other Arab countries joining the peace process, referring mainly to Saudi Arabia.

“We hope Israel and the Palestinian Authority will make sufficient progress in their meetings to create the necessary atmosphere for normalizing relations between Israel and the rest of the Arab world,” Aboul Gheit told Olmert.

In response, Olmert said that Israel and the PA “have begun a process of dialogue that will naturally also lead to negotiations with the PA on the main issues that will enable the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
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