Saudi Arabia to allow 'Israel' to attend UNESCO Riyadh summit

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Jul 2023 00:11
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Media reports revealed that Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with UNESCO that guarantees all members could participate in the meeting in Riyadh.

A general view of UNESCO prior to the opening of the General Conference in Paris, France, November 5, 2013. (AP)

According to media reports, Saudi Arabia has signed a host agreement with UNESCO that guarantees all member nations, including the Israeli occupation, access to the World Heritage Committee conference in Riyadh.

Israeli news website Walla reported that "Israel's" presence at the September conference was the main obstacle in the signing of the agreement with the UN.

Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic ties with the occupation and if it follows through, it will be the first time any Israeli government officials have come into the country.

During a Paris meeting Wednesday, UNESCO director Audrey Azoulay allegedly assured Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen that the Gulf state had committed to giving unrestricted access to all member states.

According to Walla, "Israel" is still anxious that the Saudis would find a method to prevent the Israeli delegation from attending. The kingdom refused to give visas to Israeli representatives attending a World Tourism Organisation convention in Riyadh in March.

However, Saudi Arabia recently hosted the Israeli FIFAe team as they partook in the FIFAe World Cup in Riyadh on June 8.

Last month, Israeli media said the Saudi-Iran rapprochement inflicted harm on "Israel" and its interests in the region and distanced the kingdom from normalizing ties with the Israeli occupation.

Iran and Saudi Arabia signed on March 10 a Chinese-brokered agreement to restore diplomatic ties after several years of rift.

In June, Israeli media reported a "diplomatic embarrassment" in Paris, after Saudi Arabia prevented two Israeli diplomats from entering an event attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS).

According to Walla!, two Israeli Foreign Ministry officials who were invited to the welcome event held by MBS as part of the presentation of Saudi Arabia's candidacy to host the Expo 2030 conference discovered that their names had been removed from the list of invitees at the last minute and were not allowed to enter it, as per senior officials at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.