Saudi-Israeli relations 'outed' at last ....

"... Ayalon began his talk saying it appeared "a representative of a country with a lot of oil" had pressed the organizers to separate the panel because he "did not want to sit with us," ...... U.S. Senator Lieberman joined Ayalon's criticism, saying "I am disappointed with the Saudis," adding that he had thought that he was participating in a six-person panel, only to discover that the panels had been split because the Saudis refuse to sit with the Israelis. In the subsequent question and answer session, prince al-Faisal stood up in the audience and said it was not he who had objected and the splitting of the panel was probably due to Ayalon's "boorish behavior" with Turkey's envoy to Israel.... Ayalon responded by saying that the Saudi prince had called into question his integrity. He added: "If indeed it was not him who objected to my being here with him, I would welcome him to shake my outstretched hand." The prince refused to get on the stage, but Ayalon did not lose his stride, announcing that he would be willing to get off the stage. He then walked toward the prince and shook his hand. "Israel is committed to peace," he told the prince. The handshake was a rare public occurrence between an Israeli and a Saudi official. Prince al-Faisal holds no official post in Saudi Arabia currently, but he is considered to have a very high status among Saudi royalty. "