Middle East Monitor / January 16, 2021
Saudi Arabia has stopped contact with Israel as punishment over leaking the news of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two months ago, London-based Saudi online newspaper Elaph reported on Thursday.
According to Elaph, an unnamed senior Israeli official said that Israeli relations with the Saudis had changed and revealed that the Saudis had entirely cut off contact with Israel.
The official also explained that Saudi Arabia does not reply to US-mediated indirect communication, stressing that this came in response to the leaking of news about the meeting, which was denied by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan.
Elaph also reported the official stating that Saudi Arabia will not be signing a normalisation deal with Israel unless progress is made on the Palestinian issue.
