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Saudi Crown Prince ‘invited to Israel’ as Jerusalem protests smoulder in West Bank

Israel’s intelligence minister has extended an invitation to Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to visit the country as fallout from the US’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state continues to reverberate around the world.

Yisrael Katz made the remark in an interview with Saudi-owned Arabic news website Elaph, his spokesperson said on Thursday – but the call was not included in the published interview for “unknown reasons”.

“He said that he asks [King Salman] to invite [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu officially to Riyadh, and he asks MBS, Mohammed bin Salman, the son, to come and visit Israel,” representative Arye Shalicar said.

Mr Katz extended the invitation because “he wants regional peace”, his office added.

Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations. United by their common foe of Iran, however, in recent months the relationship appears to be warming.

Riyadh has also been a key broker in the Trump administration’s efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Last month, former Israeli defence minister Yaacov Nagal claimed that the Kingdom is willing to accept almost any kind of Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and had stopped “giving a damn” about the Palestinian cause – as long as it can present a united front against Iran.