Israeli officials make first ever Saudi Arabia visit for UNESCO meet

An Israeli delegation made an official visit to Saudi Arabia, the first of its kind, an Israeli representative confirmed on Sunday following media reports.

The visit took place for a meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli diplomats, Education Ministry officials and the head of the Israel Antiquities Authority all travelled to Riyadh, the representative confirmed.

Broadcaster i24news reported that Israel plans to lobby against the inclusion of Jericho as a Palestinian World Heritage site at the meeting.

While the Israeli state ceased to be a member of UNESCO in 2019, saying the organization is biased against Israel, it participates as an observer, the report said.

The visit comes amid suggestions of a possible rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The US is both a backer of Israel as well as a key ally of Saudi Arabia.

However, Riyadh does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

But in September 2020, Israel agreed to establish diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, following US mediation.

Morocco and Sudan then announced similar steps.

Previously, only Egypt and Jordan had diplomatic relations with Israel.