Israel PM makes secret Oman visit

pulse

October 26, 2018 3:31 PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made an unannounced visit to Oman, an Arab state with which Israel has no diplomatic ties, and met with Sultan Qaboos, the premiers office said Friday.

The two leaders discussed the Middle East peace process "and other issues of shared interest", it said in a statement released after Netanyahu returned from the first such visit by an Israeli premier for more than two decades.

Netanyahu was accompanied by his wife Sara and his delegation included Mossad intelligence chief Yossi Cohen and National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat.

The visit came at the invitation of Sultan Qaboos and followed "lengthy contacts between the two countries", the statement said.

It formed part of "the policy outlined by Prime Minister Netanyahu on deepening relations with the states of the region", it said.

In 1994, then-Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin visited Oman, and acting prime minister Shimon Peres also made a visit in 1996 and the two countries agreed to open trade representative offices.

In October 2000, Oman closed the offices after the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada.

pulse