RIYADH, Sept 27: Despite denials from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Saudi official sources, diplomatic officials in Jerusalem continue to insist that senior officials of the two countries had held a high-level meeting, Israeli daily Jerusalem Post said on Wednesday quoting Israeli sources.

According to the newspaper, Saudi Arabia and Israel currently shared their concern on three issues confronting the region —Al Qaeda, Iran and Hezbollah.

“If you would have asked me three years ago, or five years ago, what country would be the last one in the region to make peace with us, I would have said Saudi Arabia,” one Israeli diplomatic official told Jerusalem Post . “So if they are meeting with us now, it shows just how worried they are.”

“And what are the Saudis worried about? They are worried about a nuclear Iran, no less then Israel is. They are worried about Shia extremism, no less than Israel is. And they are worried about Al Qaeda, no less than Israel is,” the paper argued.

Sources in Jerusalem said that on the three major issues facing Israel — Iran, Lebanon, and the Palestinians — the Saudis were currently playing a constructive role.

Regarding the Iranians, the Saudis are voicing their concerns, but still only in private, about the prospect of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

As far as Lebanon is concerned, the Saudis, according to Israeli diplomatic sources, were helpful in pushing through UN Security Council Resolution 1701. In the beginning of the war in Lebanon, the Saudis came out with unprecedented criticism of Hezbollah’s actions.