WarSclerotic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the ‎Persian Gulf state of Oman on Friday and discussed ‎peace initiatives in the Middle East with Omani ‎leader Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Prime Minister’s ‎Office said in a statement. ‎

The rare visit by an Israeli leader to the Arabian ‎Peninsula sultanate, which was not publicized in advance, came ‎days after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud ‎Abbas returned from a three-day visit to Muscat, ‎where he also met with bin Said. ‎

Video: Reuters

A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office said ‎Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were invited to visit ‎Muscat by the sultan  following extensive communications between ‎the two countries.‎

‎”Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Oman is the ‎first official meeting at this level since 1996,” the statement said. “He ‎and his wife were accompanied by Mossad Director ‎Yossi Cohen, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-‎Shabbat, Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval ‎Rotem, the prime minister’s bureau chief Yoav ‎Horowitz and the prime minister’s ‎Military ‎Secretary Brig. Gen. Avi Bluth.” ‎

‎”The two leaders discussed, among other things, ways ‎to advance the peace process in the Middle East as ‎well as several matters of joint interest regarding ‎the achievement of peace and stability in the ‎region,” the statement continued.

“The prime minister’s visit is a significant ‎step in implementing his policy on deepening ‎relations with the countries in the region while ‎leveraging Israel’s advantages in security, ‎technology and economic matters,”‎ it said.

Prime Minister’s Office ‎

A statement by the Omani government described Israel ‎as an “accepted Middle East state.”‎

Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi ‎‎said his country could offer ideas to help advance ‎the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. but stressed ‎Muscat is not acting as a mediator in the talks, ‎stalled since 2014. ‎

‎”Israel is a state present in the region, and we all ‎understand this,” bin Alawi told a security summit ‎in Bahrain.‎ “The world is also aware of this fact. Maybe it is ‎time for Israel to be treated the same [as others ‎states] and also bear the same obligations. We are ‎not saying that the road is now easy and paved with ‎flowers, but our priority is to put an end to the ‎conflict and move to a new world,” he said. ‎

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al ‎Khalifa voiced support for Oman over the sultanate’s ‎role in trying to secure Israeli-Palestinian peace, ‎while Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the ‎kingdom believes the key to normalizing relations ‎with Israel was the peace process.‎

U.S. Special Representative for International ‎Negotiations Jason Greenblatt welcomed the “warming ‎ties and growing cooperation between our regional ‎friends,” tweeting, “This is a helpful step for our ‎peace efforts and essential to create an atmosphere ‎of stability, security and prosperity between ‎Israelis, Palestinians and their neighbors. Looking ‎forward to seeing more meetings like this!”‎

Israel and some Gulf states share an interest in ‎curbing Iran’s influence in the region.‎

Oman has long been to the Middle East what neutral ‎Switzerland is to global diplomacy. The sultanate ‎helped to mediate secret U.S.-Iran talks in 2013 ‎that led to the historic nuclear deal signed in ‎Geneva two years later.‎

Earlier this year, bin Alawi visited Jerusalem’s Al-‎Aqsa Mosque and Netanyahu has, on several occasions, ‎hinted at warmer ties with Gulf states.‎ He told Israel’s parliament last week that due to ‎fears of a nuclear threat from Iran, “Israel and ‎other Arab countries are closer than they ever were ‎before.”‎

Though uncommon, Israeli leaders have previously ‎visited the Gulf state.‎ In 1996, then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres visited ‎the Gulf state and dedicate an Israeli trade ‎representative office there. His predecessor, the ‎late Yitzhak Rabin, made the first trip to Oman in ‎‎1994.‎