Israel has confirmed it has been secretly communicating with Sunni Arab states, including a recent high-level visit by an Israeli delegation to Saudi Arabia.<\/span><\/p>\n The Sunni states \u201care not shaking hands [with Israelis] in public, but we meet in closed rooms,\u201d Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya\u2019alon said.<\/span><\/p>\n The meeting in Riyadh last month included a senior Israeli official, according to Channel 10 Arab affairs expert Tzvi Yehezkeli, who added that Saudi, under King Salman, has become more open about contacts with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n The Gulf states \u201cneed Israel because both are facing a common problem as Iran grows stronger following the nuclear deal it signed \u2013 and because the U.S. is no longer a meaningful presence in the region,\u201d Yehezkeli said.<\/span><\/p>\n Ya\u2019alon said Israel\u2019s communications with Arab countries include \u201cnot only Jordan and Egypt. I speak about the Gulf states and North African states, too. For them, Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood are the enemy\u2026. Iran is the bad guy for us and for the Sunni regimes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Saudi Prince Faisal responded to Ya\u2019alon\u2019s comments by saying the Israeli defense minister was right about the animosity between the Sunni countries and Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, but the same Sunni Arab countries are also furious with Israel over the Palestinian issue.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Ha\u2019aretz, Ya\u2019alon rejected the Saudi prince\u2019s remarks. \u201cThere is a conflict with the Palestinians \u2013 but what is the linkage between this and the Iranian revolution? ISIL has a connection to the conflict? The civil war in Syria or the uprising in Tunisia? The situation in Yemen or Iraq? There is no connection.”<\/span><\/p>\n