NEW YORK: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has effectively obstructed a plan to allow the Foreign Minister of Israel, Eli Cohen to attend a United Nations conference in the country, after Riyadh wouldn’t “seriously discuss” Eli Cohen’s security details, according to a report by a US-based news website, AXIOS, which cited at least three Israeli officials.
Eli Cohen was set to attend a United Nations World Tourism Organization conference in the country this week, a trip that would have marked the first public visit by any Israeli minister to the kingdom.
Nonetheless, when time came to arrange his security details, it “became clear that the Saudis weren’t going to have a serious discussion,” and Eli Cohen was forced to cancel his trip, said the report.
UN Conference: “Best Tourism Villages”
Eli Cohen was scheduled to attend the event of “Best Tourism Villages” by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) this week, after the body put the name of the Circassian village of Kfar Kama in the northern part of the occupied Palestinian territories also on a list of tourist destinations.
The two days event is taking place in the northwestern Saudi Arabian city of al-‘Ula, which the kingdom is promoting as a tourism hub.
According to the US-based news website, Israel lobbied the UN World Tourism Organization and United States President Joe Biden to press the Saudis to allow Eli Cohen to attend the event.
“Eventually the Saudis found a way to say ‘yes’ to the UN as they had to, but at the same time create conditions that won’t allow the visit to happen,” a senior official in the Israel government told the US-based news website, Axios.
The kingdom has also refused to issue entry visas to the Israeli delegation comprising Kfar Kama’s residents that had been invited to partake in the event.
The move was seen as a sign that Israel’s hopes of warming relations with the kingdom may be premature.
After seven years, Saudi Arabia and Iran clinched a deal to restore diplomatic relations and re-open embassies, a breakthrough mediated by China. – APP
