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Israeli officials have also been seeking expanded permission for
their airlines to fly over Saudi soil to Asian destinations.
Saudi Arabia, Islam's birthplace, does not recognise Israel and
has said nothing of possible bilateral developments during
Biden's visit. Israel has also shied from drawing such links.
But Israel's Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Freij said
Israel has been working to bring what he deemed "under the
counter" contacts between the countries - based mostly on
commercial interests and shared worries about Iran - more into
the open.
"I want to see the day when I can depart from Ben-Gurion
(airport near Tel Aviv) to Jeddah to fulfil my religious
obligation" of pilgrimage to Mecca, said Freij, a member of
Israel's 18% Muslim minority.
"I took this matter up with Saudi Arabia and I really hope that
day will come," he told Israel's Army Radio, without expanding
on where or when such discussions took place.
Saudi Arabia has long admitted Muslim pilgrims from Israel, but
they must travel through third countries. That ends up costing
around $11,500 for a week-long stay, Freij said. Pilgrims from
neighbouring Arab countries pay around half that.
When the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain established relations
with Israel in 2020, Riyadh signalled its assent by providing a
Saudi air corridor for Israeli planes headed to those Gulf
states.
"We are in talks on getting general (Saudi) over-flight rights
for destinations other than Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Manama. This
will save significant times for reaching Asian destinations, for
example," an Israeli official told Reuters.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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