Israel Saudi relations being changed by a mutual enemy
Anwar Sadat
Forty years ago this month   Egyptian President Anwar Sadat  became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel  speaking before the Knesset about the need for peace.  His  visit paved the way for a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1979  making Egypt the first Arab country to recognize Israel.
 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat   left  greets then-Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres in May 1979 in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva.
In commemorating the visit  Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman tweeted last week  " Anwar Sadat  is a true leader that went against the flow and paved the way for additional Arab leaders to recognize the importance of strategic ties with the State of Israel. Forty years after the historic landing in Israel  I call on regional leaders to follow  President Sadat   to come to Jerusalem  and to turn a new page  not only in relations with Israel and the Arab world  but with the whole region."
If once it was Egypt that seemed the critical third-party in an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal  the focus has shifted to Riyadh  a point not lost on US President Donald Trump as his administration tries to restart negotiations. Trump's special envoy for international negotiations  Jason Greenblatt  and son-in-law Jared Kushner  who have led the team pursuing what  the president  has called "the ultimate deal " have visited the region -- and the Saudis -- multiple times to lay the groundwork for a peace process.
Forty years ago this month   [TGT]became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel  speaking before the Knesset about the need for peace.  [TGT]  visit paved the way for a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1979  making Egypt the first Arab country to recognize Israel.
 [TGT]left  greets then-Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres in May 1979 in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva.
In commemorating the visit  Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman tweeted last week  [TGT]is a true leader that went against the flow and paved the way for additional Arab leaders to recognize the importance of strategic ties with the State of Israel. Forty years after the historic landing in Israel  I call on regional leaders to follow  [TGT]to come to Jerusalem  and to turn a new page  not only in relations with Israel and the Arab world  but with the whole region."
If once it was Egypt that seemed the critical third-party in an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal  the focus has shifted to Riyadh  a point not lost on US President Donald Trump as his administration tries to restart negotiations. Trump's special envoy for international negotiations  Jason Greenblatt  and son-in-law Jared Kushner  who have led the team pursuing what  the president  has called "the ultimate deal " have visited the region -- and the Saudis -- multiple times to lay the groundwork for a peace process.