The Israeli Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karhi, performed Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023, Talmudic prayers and rituals in the Saudi Arabia capital city of Riyadh, marking the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
The move comes as Karhi and Likud lawmaker David Bitan landed Monday in the Saudi capital Riyadh to participate in the 2023 congress of the Universal Postal Union, as the US pushes to normalize relations between the two sides.
In a special video, Karhi and a number of Israeli officials were filmed holding Talmudic books, raising palm branches, which is the dominant ritual of Sukkot, and circling around a table, singing and reading aloud.
وزير الاتصالات الإسرائيلي شلومو كرعي أدى اليوم في العاصمة السعودية الرياض صلوات تلمودية وطقوس دينية بمناسبة "عيد العرش" اليهودي.
كرعي، من صقور الجناح الديني في حزب الليكود ومن الأكثر حماسا لتدنيس المستوطنين اليهود للمسجد الأقصى وتقليص قدرة المسلمين على الوصول إليه.
رؤية 2023 pic.twitter.com/4uhpWVdaHv
— د.صالح النعامي (@salehelnaami) October 3, 2023
Karhi is the second Israeli minister to publicly travel to Suadi Arabia after last week’s visit by Tourism Minister Haim Katz, and the third by an official Israeli delegation in the last three months.
Karhi was met with a king-like reception by the Saudi officials, who facilitated visas for the Israeli delegation a few weeks prior to Karhi’s three-day visit.
The Biden Administration has urged its Middle East allies ‘Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize diplomatic relations following similar deals involving the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
Last week, the Saudi crown prince and country’s de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, made perilous remakes to the US network Fox that his country is getting “closer” to normalizing ties with ‘Israel’ but insisted that the Palestinian cause remains “very important” for Riyadh.
On the other hand, Palestinians have denounced Bin Salman’s remarks, labelling those United States-brokered agreements a betrayal of their plight and quest for statehood.
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