Netanyahu Reportedly Meets Saudi Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia, Urges Biden to Not Rejoin Iran Deal

According to multiple media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly flew to Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Israel’s premier traveled to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Netanyahu was reportedly accompanied by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.

However, Saudi Arabia denied that the crown prince met with Netanyahu, or with any Israeli. Although such trips are believed to have occurred in the past, never before has a trip to Saudi Arabia by an Israeli public figure been publicly acknowledged.

Just hours before flying to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a clear warning against reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in what analysts are seeing as an apparent message to US President-elect Joe Biden.

Speaking at an annual memorial event for Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, Netanyahu said, “We will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons…There can be no going back to the previous nuclear agreement. We must stick to an uncompromising policy of ensuring that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.”

The international community must stop Iran’s “aggressive behavior, including its support for terror,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces launched a surprise exercise simulating a mock war scenario in and around the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the military announced.

The Israeli army kicked off the four-day exercise on Sunday morning, just hours after the IDF struck numerous Hamas targets in Gaza in response to a rocket attack from the coastal territory.

Despite the timing, there was no connection between the incidents, the IDF said, with the exercise having been planned weeks in advance as part of a series of snap training drills organized over the last two years – since the appointment of Aviv Kochavi as Chief of Staff.

The war simulation is taking place during a period of escalating tensions. Last Sunday, two rockets were fired at central Israel from the Strip. Hamas sent messages to Jerusalem claiming that the rockets were fired accidentally, having been set off by lightning during a thunderstorm. The IDF apparently accepted this explanation, likely in order to give Gaza’s rulers an easy path to backing down from sparking another escalation.

Two weeks ago, a drone was flown from the enclave into Israeli airspace before it was brought down by the military. The week before saw a rocket attack from the Strip, aimed at Ashkelon. One projectile was intercepted, while the other landed in an open field.

Last month, the IDF uncovered what it said was a Hamas attack tunnel dug from Gaza into Israel.

Despite warnings by health officials that easing restrictions may result in a spike of seriously ill coronavirus patients,  which could in turn lead to Israel’s third nationwide lockdown, the government is proceeding with plans to oversee the return of all elementary and high school pupils over the coming week.

With the coronavirus cabinet due to deliberate over the application of a plan to greenlight the re-opening of shopping malls ahead of the traditionally busy winter holiday season, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet that the plans are “not going to change.”

The news comes as Israel announced its intention to transfer somewhere between three to four million coronavirus vaccines to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to a Israel Hayom report. A senior official in Ramallah’s Health Ministry said that the move is included in a deal reached between Israel and pharmaceutical companies.

Did an Israeli business intelligence firm play a key role in unlocking the 2019 theft of over $1 billion worth of jewels?

According to Israel’s Channel 12 news, the CGI Group led by a former head of the Shin Bet security service was responsible for assisting the investigation and played a crucial role in identifying and locating the thieves. CGI Group’s input is believed to have been crucial, leading to a large-scale police operation in Berlin last week, with over 1,500 officers of the law executing a series of searches throughout the city. Three people were arrested on suspicion of organized robbery and arson.