TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2023) Saudi Arabia has signed a host agreement with UNESCO guaranteeing all member states, including Israel, access to the World Heritage Committee meeting in Riyadh, media reported Thursday.
Israel's participation in the September meeting was the main obstacle to signing the agreement, Israeli news website Walla cited sources in the know as saying.
Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state and refrains from any steps that could be seen as a rapprochement. If Riyadh upholds the commitment, it will be the first time that Israeli government officials have set foot in the kingdom.
UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay reportedly told Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen during a meeting in Paris on Wednesday that the Gulf Arab state had agreed to guarantee unfettered access to all member states. Official invitations will be sent out in the coming days.
Sources told Walla that Israel was still concerned that the Saudis would find a way to bar the Israeli delegation from attending. The kingdom refused to issue visas to Israeli delegates who planned to go to a World Tourism Organization event held by the UN in Riyadh in March.
