JERUSALEM, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Wednesday with Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi on the sidelines of the ongoing Warsaw Conference on the Middle East.

The rare meeting was not part of Netanyahu's published schedule for the conference.

The Israeli prime minister's office released a video of the beginning of the meeting, during which Netanyahu and Omani officials are seen shaking hands warmly.

"It's a delight to see you again," Netanyahu told bin Alawi.

Referring to his last October's first visit to Oma, a state with which Israel does not have diplomatic ties, Netanyahu said it was a "courageous decision" by Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said to invite him.

The visit "has changed the world. It is pointing the way for many others to do what you said: Not to be stuck in the past but to see the future," he told the Omani minister.

According to Netanyahu, Israel holds secret ties with "many" Arab countries in the Middle East.

"Many are following this lead, and may I say, including in this conference," he told bin Alawi, without elaborating on which countries he was referring to.

"I want to thank you for this forward-looking positive policy that can lead to peace and prosperity. I want to thank you on behalf of the people of Israel, and may I say, on behalf of many people in the Middle East," Netanyahu said.

Bin Alawi agreed with Netanyahu on the importance of the warming ties between the two countries.

"I think this is an important vision for the future," he said.

Many Middle Eastern countries have been traditionally against holding diplomatic relations with Israel, but this policy should be changed, bin Alawi noted.

"In the Middle East, people suffer a lot because they stick to the past. Now we say: this is a new area for the future and for the prosperity of every nation," the Omani minister concluded.

The surprise meeting in Warsaw was the latest sign of the warming ties between Israel and the Gulf states.

Last October, Netanyahu visited Oman and met with Oman's sultan Qaboos bin Said.

After the meeting, the prime minister's office issued a statement saying it was a "significant step ... in deepening relations with the states of the region while leveraging Israel's advantages in security, technology and economic matters."

A few weeks later, Yisrael Katz, Israel's intelligence and transportation minister, participated in an international transportation conference in Oman.

According to Natanyahu's foreign policy, such meetings with Oman can help Israel normalize its ties with the Arab neighbor without reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Some 80 countries, including about 11 Middle Eastern countries, have confirmed their participation in the two-day Warsaw conference that started on Wednesday.

As a co-chair of the conference, the U.S. government has invited Arab states and Israel, but not Iran, which alongside with Lebanon has condemned the conference as an "anti-Iran circus."

The conference is thought to be an attempt by the United States to build an anti-Iran coalition of hardliners.

Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal negotiated with Iran, and re-imposed full sanctions on the Islamic republic. Enditem

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