An Israeli official reportedly made a secret visit to Qatar this week carrying a message from Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon to the Qatari leadership, AL HAYAT reported Thursday. The paper quoted a report by the Israeli paperMAARIV saying Israeli Deputy Education Minister Michael Melchior secretly visited Qatar "in response to an officialinvitation from the Qatar Foundation". MAARIV said Melchior met on Tuesday with the Qatari deputy foreign minister,who reportedly "expressed his country's interest in developing ties between the two countries". It added that Melchiorcarried a message from Sharon to the Qatari leadership regarding establishing diplomatic ties. The Qatar Foundationfor Education, Science and Community Development is a charitable foundation that was established in 1995 bySheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar's emir and head of state. The paper said the Foundation is chaired by thewife of the Emir, Sheikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al-Misnad.
AL HAYAT quoted the Israeli paper as saying Melchior held talks with Qatari officials on the developments in theMiddle East and "the possible role of Qatar". It said that the discussions took place away from the media except forthe presence of an unnamed journalist from the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC. MAARIV commented on thevisit saying it ushered in "the spring season of relations between Israel and the Arab world". Earlier, Israeli ForeignMinister Sylvan Shalom said Israel hoped to establish diplomatic ties with at least "10 Arab countries" this year in lightof the progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace track.
Last week, Egypt and Jordan reinstated their envoys to Tel Aviv in a sign of improved relations with the Jewish Stateafter a four-year hiatus since the outburst of the Palestinian uprising in 2000. Israel had established a TradeRepresentative Office in Doha in 1996 but the office was closed down in 2000. This was not the first time Israel hadclaimed contact with the Qatari government, but the Gulf country has always denied any such contacts.
