Government okays travel of Israelis to Saudi Arabia

In a fresh sign of warming ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, citizens of the Jewish state will from now on be allowed to travel to the neighboring Arab kingdom under certain circumstances, the government announces today.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri signed an order permitting Muslim citizens of Israel to travel to the Saudi city of Mecca to perform the Hajj or Umrah religious pilgrimage.

It also allows Israelis to go to the kingdom to participate in business meetings or to search for investments for up to nine days, provided that they have an invitation from an official body and have taken care of the necessary paperwork to enter the country.

It isn’t clear whether the new order will in fact allow Israelis to visit Saudi Arabia, however, since Riyadh generally bars Israeli nationals from the country and hasn’t made an announcement easing those restrictions.