That Israel has ties with moderate Arab states is an open secret in the corridors of power. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has alluded to his association with Gulf Arab states on several occasions, and he would like nothing more than to make those ties public.

Just two weeks ago, Army Radio reported that Netanyahu met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with the vice president of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country. And two months ago, it was reported that Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman met secretly with Qatar’s foreign minister in Cyprus.

Many of these moderate Arab states have plenty in common with Israel. First and foremost — the threat from Iran. It’s no wonder, then, that Israel and Gulf states both pressed the United States to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal. Netanyahu hints to these relationships in speeches when he says that “More and more countries understand that Iran, not Israel, is the problem in the region.”

For now, though, representatives of Israel and Arab states are more likely to “bump into” one another at international affairs than chat amiably in public.

But that wasn’t the case at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) awards ceremony, held last week in Washington. I was in attendance to hear Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s acceptance speech, delivered in front of dozens of senior American and Israeli defense officials. To my surprise, the emcee announced that among the guests were Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer, as well as his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates, Yousef al-Otaiba. Throughout dinner, the two sat together and seemed deeply engrossed in conversation.

Al-Otaiba is considered one of the most influential and connected ambassadors in the US capital. Could this be a harbinger for the gradual thawing of ties, on the way to their becoming public? Naturally, Israel would like nothing better, but the Arab states are making that conditional on seeing progress in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Either way, there’s no doubt that this was an unusual event. When I asked the American embassy for a comment, all I got was, “I heard they both had kosher meals.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 731)