Israel’s tourism minister makes 1st-ever public visit to Saudi Arabia to attend UN conference

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz on Tuesday landed in Saudi Arabia to attend a UN tourism event, marking the first-ever public visit to the kingdom.

"Tourism is a bridge between nations. Partnership in tourism issues has the potential to bring hearts together and economic prosperity,” Katz said in a statement cited by the Times of Israel news website.

"I will work to advance cooperation, tourism and the foreign relations of Israel," he added.

During his two-day visit, the Israeli minister will attend an event organized by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.

There was no comment yet from the Saudi authorities on the Israeli minister’s visit.

Recent months have seen US efforts to strike a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and Israel don’t have diplomatic relations and Riyadh insists that any deal to normalize ties with Tel Aviv must include a component advancing efforts to establish a Palestinian state, concessions that Israel has so far flatly rebuffed.

Six Arab countries have diplomatic ties with Israel, starting with Egypt in 1979, Jordan in 1994, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain in September 2020, and then Sudan and Morocco later that year.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar