JERUSALEM: Israel on Sunday officially gave its citizens the right totravel to Saudi Arabia for religious and business visits, in the latestsign of ties improving between the two states.
The interior ministry´s announcement will have limited practical impact, asIsraelis had previously been travelling to Saudi Arabia via thirdcountries, especially Jordan.
But Israel had never granted official approval for such travel by bothJewish and Muslim Israelis.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri “signed for the first time an order enablingan exit permit for Israelis to Saudi Arabia”, his office said.
The move, coordinated with the security and diplomatic services, approvestravel to the Gulf state “for religious purposes during the hajj and theumra (Muslim pilgrimages)”, it said in a statement.
It said Israel would also allow its citizens to travel to Saudi Arabia “toparticipate in business meetings or seek investments” for trips notexceeding 90 days.
Business travellers must have “arranged their entry to Saudi Arabia andreceived an invitation from a governmental source”, the interior ministrysaid.
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There was no indication of a corresponding policy change from the Saudiside, but there have in recent months been gestures pointing to warmingties between Israel and Gulf states.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Mohammedal-Issa, head of the Muslim World League based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, forattending commemorations in Poland this week marking 75 years since theliberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.
“This is another sign of change in the attitude of Islamic bodies and, ofcourse, the Arab states toward the Holocaust and the Jewish people,” hetold reporters.
Israel has a peace deal with two Arab countries — Jordan and Egypt — butits occupation of Palestinian territory has long served as a major factorpreventing similar accords with the rest of the Arab world.
Common concerns over Iran, however, are widely seen as having fosteredcloser ties between Israel and several Arab states, especially in the Gulf.
