Saudi Arabia plans to open Red Sea islands to Israeli tourists

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Jan 22:08
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Although two islands were purchased from Egypt in 2016, Saudi Arabia is planning to build a bridge linking the islands to Egypt.

Tiran Island

Israeli news outlet Globes reported on Monday that Saudi Arabia is planning to make the Red Sea islands accessible to Israeli tourists.

Sources familiar with the matter told the news agency that Saudi Arabia will soon permit Israelis to obtain tourist visas to visit the islands of Tiran and Sanafir which will have hotels and casinos available.

Although two islands were purchased from Egypt in 2016, Saudi Arabia is planning to build a bridge linking the islands to Egypt.

The island of Tiran has been demilitarized as per the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli normalization agreement, yet it holds significant strategic importance as it engulfs the passage into the Red Sea up to "Eilat," "Israel's" economic and trade hub, in addition to the port of Aqaba in Jordan.

Despite a deal reached in 2016, Egypt delayed the implementation of the agreement, likely because it wanted to gain leverage with the US over reductions of US military aid to Egypt.

As per the 2016 agreement, a US-led multinational force of observers remained present in Tiran for years until it was required to leave the islands by the end of December 2022.

The report states that the presence of US forces was intended to secure "Israel's" marine traffic on trade routes in the case Saudi Arabia gained control of the exist from the Gulf of "Eilat."

This issue was raised in discussions with President Joe Biden when he visited the region last summer.

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got re-elected last December, talks resumed regarding the advantages of Israeli tourists, the report states.

"At this stage, a solution is emerging that will leave Egypt with a vestige of sovereignty, thus achieving two goals: firstly, Egypt will have a veto on what happens on the islands; secondly, maintaining the peace agreement and giving Israelis the opportunity to vacation on the islands," the report adds.

Regarding prospects of an eventual peace with Saudi Arabia, sources told the news outlet that granting access to Israeli tourists to the Tiran and Sanafir islands effectively shows Saudi Arabia's desire to promote steps to further normalization.

"It will be at a slow pace, with more additional steps that will bring the countries closer together, but the real breakthrough is not here yet. Things need to calm down a bit, we'll see where the Netanyahu government is headed, but in the end it's in the interest of all the countries involved to reach a full agreement," sources told the Globes.