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Mohammed bin Salman
Football fans stand beneath a large banner depicting Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C) and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) as they attend the World Cup 2022 Asian qualifying match between Palestine and Saudi Arabia in the town of al-Ram in the West Bank on October 15, 2019. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
Raphael Ahren
Analysis
Raphael Ahren
Not-so-secret meeting with Saudis a major step, but don’t say normalization yet
Establishment of full diplomatic ties may need to wait for Biden to get settled in, but Netanyahu’s meeting with crown prince is a significant breakthrough
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, L, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to make a joint statement after meeting in Jerusalem on November 19, 2020. (Maya Alleruzzo / POOL / AFP)
TV report: Netanyahu, Pompeo hoped for normalization, but Saudis said no
By TOI staff
Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 29, 2011. (AP /Virginia Mayo, File)
November 24, 2020, 3:14 pm
Friend tells court Saudi official close to crown prince threatened Khashoggi
Egyptian dissident says journalist was afraid after call from royal court’s one-time media czar Saud al-Qahtani, who is charged with orchestrating the murder
By AFP
Mask-clad Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is shown a demonstration of a coronavirus swab sampling during the inauguration of a COVID-19 coronavirus rapid testing center at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod on November 9, 2020. (ATEF SAFADI / POOL / AFP)
November 24, 2020, 9:00 am
Saudi Arabia put on list of ‘green’ countries, sparing Netanyahu quarantine
Health Ministry adds Gulf nation to list a day after the PM’s return from talks with Saudi crown prince; it’s an enemy state, so no other Israelis are known to be flying there
By TOI staff
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, L, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to make a joint statement after meeting in Jerusalem on November 19, 2020. (Maya Alleruzzo / POOL / AFP)
November 23, 2020, 10:46 pm
TV report: Netanyahu, Pompeo hoped for normalization, but Saudis said no
Israeli security officials said to fume after PM keeps them in the dark about trip to enemy state for secret meeting with crown prince
By TOI staff
US Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper during a visit to Jerusalem, November 23, 2020. (David Azagury/ US Embassy Jerusalem)
November 23, 2020, 7:33 pm
Saudis constantly weighing normalization with Israel, visiting US official says
Assistant secretary of state refuses to comment on Netanyahu’s meeting with crown prince, but says Riyadh’s drive for reforms would require joining Abraham Accords
By Raphael Ahren
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, listens to Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud during their meeting at the State Department, October 14, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Manuel Balce CENATA / POOL / AFP)
November 23, 2020, 4:56 pm
Despite confirmation by Saudi advisers, Riyadh FM denies prince met Netanyahu
Hours after Israeli and US media report on meeting, Faisal bin Farhan says no Israelis were present; Netanyahu doesn’t deny he flew to Gulf kingdom, but won’t comment
By TOI staff and Agencies
Football fans stand beneath a large banner depicting Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C) and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) as they attend the World Cup 2022 Asian qualifying match between Palestine and Saudi Arabia in the town of al-Ram in the West Bank on October 15, 2019. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
November 23, 2020, 2:25 pm
Not-so-secret meeting with Saudis a major step, but don’t say normalization yet
Establishment of full diplomatic ties may need to wait for Biden to get settled in, but Netanyahu’s meeting with crown prince is a significant breakthrough
By Raphael Ahren
Palestinians prepare to set fire to an Israeli flag and portraits of US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a protest at the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, April 13, 2018. (AFP/Thomas Coex)
November 23, 2020, 2:21 pm
Arab MKs condemn Netanyahu’s Saudi visit, warn it could spark war
Joint List lawmakers, who also opposed normalization with UAE and Bahrain, claim Trump and PM have ‘nothing to lose’; Hamas demands explanation from Riyadh
By TOI staff
Benny Gantz (left) and Gabi Ashkenazi of the Blue and White party arrive to give a joint a statement in Tel Aviv on February 21, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
November 23, 2020, 2:08 pm
Gantz, Ashkenazi said kept in dark about Saudi Arabia trip
Defense and foreign ministers decline to comment on reports of historic meeting between Israeli PM and Mohammad bin Salman, and on claims they weren’t told ahead of time
By TOI staff
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a virtual G-20 summit held over video conferencing, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 22, 2020. (Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP)
November 23, 2020, 1:59 pm
Saudis confirm Netanyahu flew in for talks with crown prince on ties, Iran – WSJ
Sources in kingdom say PM flew in for several hours of discussions; no substantial agreements reached; Israel’s education minister hails ‘amazing achievement’
By TOI staff and Agencies
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Mossad head Yossi Cohen during a toast for the Jewish New Year on October 2, 2017. (Haim Zach/GPO)
November 23, 2020, 9:42 am
Netanyahu, Mossad chief fly to Saudi, hold first known meet with crown prince
Groundbreaking meeting said held in presence of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is seeking to persuade Riyadh to normalize ties with Jerusalem
By TOI staff
Saudi King Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 26, 2020. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)
November 12, 2020, 7:55 am
Saudi king says Iran is top concern, reaffirms support for Palestinian state
After strongly favoring Trump’s policy of maximum pressure on Tehran, kingdom faces uncertainty ahead with Biden
By Aya Batrawy
Then-US vice president Joe Biden, left, offers his condolences to Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, upon the death of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
November 10, 2020, 11:48 pm
After cozy Trump ties, ‘pariah’ Saudi Arabia faces reckoning with Biden
Mohammed bin Salman now vulnerable to renewed scrutiny from kingdom’s closest Western ally, which could leave him isolated amid challenges that imperil his reform agenda
By Anuj Chopra
Then US vice president Joe Biden, right, offers his condolences to Prince Salman bin Abdel-Aziz upon the death of on his brother Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, at Prince Sultan palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 27, 2011 . (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
November 8, 2020, 11:57 pm
Saudi rulers congratulate Biden a day after US election win
King Salman, who has welcomed the Trump administration’s policies toward Iran after tense Obama years, touts ‘close historical relations’ between the countries
By AFP
(1st row, from L) President of Iraq Fuad Masum, Yemen's President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour, President of Lebanon Michel Aoun, President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir, King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Emir of Kuweit Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Emirati President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud (2nd row, From R) Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, President of the Algerian Senate Abdelkader Bensalah, Libya's unity government Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Omani Deputy Prime Minister Fahd Bin Mahmud Al-Said, Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco, President of the Comoros Azali Assoumani and Qatari Ambassador to Arab leaque Saif Bin Muqaddam Al-Buainain during the 29th Summit of the Arab League at the Ithra center in Dhahran, Eastern Saudi Arabia, on April 15, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / STR)
November 8, 2020, 1:44 pm
Saudis silent as Arab leaders welcome Biden, though some likely preferred Trump
Most states send laudatory missives; Riyadh, which enjoyed particularly good relations with the incumbent, and which may suffer under Biden administration, has yet to comment
By Aaron Boxerman
In this file photo Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of the late Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, delivers a prerecorded message during a remembrance ceremony for her fiancee in Washington, DC, on November 2, 2018 (Jim WATSON / AFP)
October 21, 2020, 9:45 am
Khashoggi fiancée sues Saudi prince in US over journalist’s murder
Hatice Cengiz and rights group seek damages from Mohammed bin Salman and 28 others; plaintiffs say suit filed in DC because they don’t believe justice was served in Saudi Arabia
By AFP
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