Israel using Saudi statements on Khashoggi: Official

An Israeli security official said Israel is relying on official statements coming from Saudi Arabia regarding missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"Tel Aviv is counting on statements made by Saudi Arabia, not stories coming out from Turkey," the official told the London-based Elaph newspaper, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

The Israeli official argued that reports emerging from Turkey “were not based on evidence” and that Tel Aviv indirectly stood with Riyadh over the case.

He said Israel was waiting for the completion of a Saudi-Turkish joint probe into Khashoggi’s disappearance.

The security official claimed that international media was counting on social media accounts while reporting on Khashoggi’s case, instead of Saudi sources.

The official’s statement is the first reaction coming from Israel regarding the disappearance of the veteran Saudi journalist.

According to Elaph, the Israeli media did not give much coverage to the case.

Yossi Melman, a security analyst from Israel's Maariv Daily, had previously argued that Israeli intelligence service Mossad might have been involved in Khashoggi’s case.

"I hope that Mossad doesn't have a hand in the murder of Khashoggi, not even indirectly," he had said.

He cited that Mossad had been involved in the abduction of Mehdi Ben Berka, a Moroccan opposition leader who disappeared in Paris in 1956.

Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post newspaper, has long been feared killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after he entered on Oct. 2 and was never seen exiting.

On Monday, Turkish and Saudi officials searched the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul after the start of a joint probe into the missing journalist.

Saudi authorities have yet to give a clear explanation of what happened to Khashoggi, while several countries -- particularly Turkey, the U.S., and the U.K. -- are pressing for the mystery to be cleared up as soon as possible.