Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has completely rejected rumors suggesting the kingdom has been quietly establishing relations with Israel.
“There are no relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel,” Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told Egypt's CBC television channel.
“The Arab conditions are clear — two states with a Palestinian state whose capital is East Jerusalem. As for other issues, they can be worked out between Israelis and Palestinians. Arab nations’ position has always supported the Palestinian brothers. That remains the Arab position," he affirmed.
Al-Jubeir's comments come after years of speculation that ties were warming between Saudi Arabia, other Gulf nations and the Israeli government. Regional experts have pointed >to growing tensions with Iran and >Lebanon's Hezbollah, suggesting the mutual threat to Saudi and Israeli interests is driving the two governments together.
Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s energy minister, also added fuel to the rumors, when he recently appeared to openly admit relations with "many Muslim and Arab countries," going so far as to mention Saudi Arabia by name.
"We have ties that are indeed partly covert with many Muslim and Arab countries, and usually (we are) the party that is not ashamed," Steinitz said, according to The Telegraph.
"It's the other side that is interested in keeping the ties quiet. With us, usually, there is no problem, but we respect the other side's wish, when ties are developing, whether it's with Saudi Arabia or with other Arab countries or other Muslim countries," he said.
Last week, Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Israeli military, also told a Saudi news outlet that his government was willing to share intelligence with the kingdom.
With the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, some experts have suggested the new American leader may seek to forge peace between Gulf nations and the Israelis.
"A normalized relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel would actually do a lot of good for the kingdom and its neighbors. For one thing, the American Jewish community -- and the associated Israel lobby -- could then fully embrace Saudi Arabia as a friend and ally, instead of viewing Riyadh with long-term suspicion," Noah Feldman, a columnist for Bloomberg wrote in May.
"That would help consolidate the U.S.-Saudi relationship for an era in which American dependence on Saudi oil is lessening at a steady pace," he said.
However, whether or not Saudi Arabia sees such an alliance as beneficial remains to be seen. According to Al-Jubeir it's not currently an option.