The meeting marks a rare public engagement between Riyadh and Tel Aviv that have no official relations.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said Sunday that Director General Dore Gold met with Anwar Eshki at a hotel in al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Eshki currently heads a Saudi think tank in Jeddah but is believed to have close ties with the kingdom's rulers. Official government permission was likely necessary for him to make such an overt visit, AP reported.
Saudi Arabia has floated a plan for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors.