For the first time, Israeli officials will be permitted to enter Saudi Arabia.
The Israeli officials will meet in Riyadh for UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting.
Saudi Arabia signed an agreement committing to host delegations from all participating states, including Israel.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay conveyed the positive news to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, after a successful meeting in Paris with Saudi representatives last week.
There are reports that Jerusalem remains concerned that the Kingdom will attempt to backtrack prior to official invitations which are due to be sent out this week. Last March, Saudi Arabia blocked an Israeli delegation to a UN tourism conference by stalling on visa and security issues.
Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel, and does not permit Israelis to visit the Kingdom. However, earlier this month, an Israeli team of gamers were licensed to entered the country for a video game tournament in the first contingent of its kind.
Israel has been looking to secure normalisation with Saudi Arabia as an expansion of the Abraham Accords, which established peaceful relations between the Jewish State and Morocco, the UAE and Bahrain.
