In A First, Israel’s Tourism Minister Visits Saudi Arabia 

Minister Haim has reached Riyadh as part of a two-day trip that comes as KSA looks into a potential US-mediated agreement that would establish formal ties with Israel

In A First, Israel’s Tourism Minister Visits Saudi Arabia 

Israel's tourism minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, making it the first formal visit by a member of the Israeli cabinet to the country to attend a UN tourism conference.

As part of a two-day visit, Minister Haim Katz arrived in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is considering a possible deal that would be negotiated by the US and establish official connections with Israel, whose sovereignty it has never publicly recognized.

According to Reuters, the Saudi authorities did not immediately react to a request for comment.

Tuesday was the first visit by Saudi Arabia's non-resident ambassador to the Palestinians, whose appointment was announced last month. He presented credentials designating him as a "consul general in Jerusalem" as well.

Many members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist religious coalition have long rejected Saudi Arabia's insistence that recognition of Israel is conditional on acceptance of the Palestinians' right to statehood.

Reporters in Ramallah were told by the ambassador, Nayef Al-Sudairi, that his visit "reaffirms that the Palestinian cause, Palestine, and the people of Palestine are of high and important status and that there will be a chance for bigger cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the state of Palestine in the coming days."