The head of Bank Leumi, an Israeli bank, attended a Saudi investor forum on Thursday in which he praised the Kingdom's "amazing" opportunities, as business and trade increase between the Israeli occupation and Saudi Arabia. 

Samer Haj-Yehia, who is the chairman of Bank Leumi, addressed the Future Investment Initiative forum; a 3-day conference held in Riyadh referred to as the "Davos in the Desert."

"The opportunities are amazing and the fintech industry in particular is on the rise," he said during a panel discussion. 

"You see the economy is very healthy, unlike other economies around the world, and the prospects for the future are very positive," he added, highlighting strong access to capital in oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the young population's adoption of "very advanced mobile technology."

Bank Leumi, in a statement, described Haj-Yehia's contribution to the forum as "the first official public visit of a senior Israeli business official to the country." Saudi Arabia has not officially recognized "Israel" but has opened its markets to Israeli investment firms and its airspace to Israeli airlines. 

Haj-Yehia's visit would not be the first. In 2020, around the time of the signing of the so-called "Abraham Accords", he "led the first delegation of senior Israeli businessmen to Dubai," according to the statement from Bank Leumi. A year later, he visited Bahrain "with the aim of promoting business and economic cooperation."

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"The Israelis will take anything they can get from the Saudis," said Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. "And the Saudi government is effectively comfortable with anything that doesn't create too much public controversy: limited steps, things that appear not to signal a major change in relations or policy. This is like that."

Though Riyadh did not normalize ties with the Israeli occupation yet, unlike Abu Dhabi and Manama, it has already kicked off economic normalization with "Tel Aviv". The Kingdom is already issuing special visas to Israeli settlers, with Israeli and Saudi sources saying there has been a hike in signed deals recently and advanced contact concerning investments of Saudi businessmen and investment funds in "Israel".

In an article by Israel Hayom published in May, it has been revealed that Israeli envoys visited Riyadh several times throughout a period of time that extends for over a decade now. However, these visits have always been kept secret, but according to the Israeli newspaper, they can now be revealed.

No longer a secret

There has been one exception to the secret visits and that is Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit in November of 2020 to the Red Sea city of Neom, which was widely yet carefully publicized, where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS).

Previously, Israeli Security Minister Benny Gantz had visited Saudi Arabia as chief of staff, while Aluf Meir Dagan, Tamir Pardo, and Yossi Cohen arrived as heads of Mossad and Ben Shabbat as head of the National Security Council.

The purpose of the visit was to develop security coordination, especially against Iran. Netanyahu, as did most Israeli officials, had flown to Saudi Arabia in a private plane especially leased for this occasion. At the time, it was business contacts that have matured into political, military, and security deals.

The Neom meeting was coordinated by the former head of Mossad, Yossi Cohen, whose two predecessors had also visited Saudi Arabia in previous years. Meetings were not uniquely held by higher levels of institutions, but also by lower levels such as the “world” division which handles international relations with countries which “Israel” has diplomatic relations with, as well as those with secret relations similar to Saudi Arabia. 

Gantz, previously chief of staff for the IOF and currently the Security Minister and Deputy PM of “Israel” since 2020, had visited Saudi Arabia on multiple occasions. The main goal of these meetings is to strengthen security coordination against Iran and Ansar Allah in Yemen.