One diplomat termed it “breaking the glass ceiling” because while similar meetings have been kept under wraps in the past, this time it was officially announced by Omani media.
Similarly, Mrs Regev’s visit to the United Arab Emirates along with the judo delegation was afforded all the official trappings, including a tour of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
But it was easy to remember that Israel’s ties with the states of the region remain far from normal and there is, as yet, no prospect of full diplomatic relations being established. Officially, Israelis are still not allowed to visit, although many quietly do, and Israeli journalists were not allowed to report from the judo competition.
The largest and most powerful Arab Gulf nation, Saudi Arabia, has extensive ties with Israel on security matters — but only last month, reports of a meeting at a conference in Washington, DC between the Saudi army’s chief of staff and his Israeli counterpart Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot, was officially denied by the defence ministry in Riyadh.
