Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it is \u201clikely\u201d Israel will reach a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, in what would mark a seismic foreign policy shift for both countries as they edge closer to reaching a deal mediated by the US. <\/p>\n
But he refused repeatedly to say what kind of concessions he would offer Palestinians in order to get the deal across the line. <\/p>\n
It would \u201cchange the Middle East forever,\u201d he said \u2013 bringing down \u201cwalls of enmity\u201d and creating \u201ca corridor of energy pipelines, rail lines, fiber optic cables, between Asia through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates.\u201d <\/p>\n
The White House has been in talks with Riyadh for several months over the purported agreement to normalize relations between the two countries. Saudi Arabia, like many Arab states, does not currently recognize Israel; such a deal would have potential to enhance Israel\u2019s acceptance in the Muslim world, particularly considering Saudi Arabia\u2019s role as the custodian of Islam\u2019s holiest sites. <\/p>\n
In 2002, Saudi Arabia proposed an \u201cArab Peace initiative\u201d which offered Israel security and \u201cnormal relations\u201d with 57 Arab and Muslim countries in exchange for its withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. But Israel rejected the initiative at the time. <\/p>\n
This week, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that a normalization pact with Israel would be \u201cthe biggest historical deal since the Cold War.\u201d <\/p>\n
In an interview with Fox News, bin Salman added that he hopes the deal will \u201creach a place that will ease the life of the Palestinians\u201d \u2013 but stopped short of calling for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, which has been Riyadh\u2019s official stance for two decades. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu has made tightening relations with Saudi Arabia a linchpin of his premiership, although it is unclear what kind of concessions toward Palestinians would be allowed by his right-wing coalition. <\/p>\n
In his interview with Collins, Netanyahu declined to say what kind of concessions he might make to Palestinians for the nromalization deal, but emphasized that he believes making peace with the broader Arab world would be a step toward resolving Palestinian-Israeli conflict \u2013 what he called an \u201coutside-in\u201d approach. <\/p>\n
He also repeated a point made in his UN address earlier that day, saying that he believed Palestinians should \u201cbecome part of the process\u201d \u2013 but not wield the ability to veto it. <\/p>\n
Speaking to the UN General Assembly in New York this week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned against trying to sideline his people\u2019s demands in any possible normalization agreement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThose who think that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full legitimate national rights would be mistaken,\u201d Abbas said at the UNGA. <\/p>\n
Tensions in the region have skyrocketed in recent weeks, amid increased Israeli military raids on Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank. Israel says the raids are intended to prevent or punish Palestinian militant attacks on Israeli civilians because the Palestinian Authority is failing in its security obligations. <\/p>\n
The number of Palestinians and Israelis killed this year is on track to be the highest since the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, two decades ago. <\/p>\n
Despite apparent momentum toward a normalization deal, Netanyahu\u2019s relationship with US President Joe Biden has soured in recent months, as officials in Washington raise concerns over his efforts to scale back the powers of Israel\u2019s Supreme Court. <\/p>\n
The judicial overhaul has triggered the longest and largest protest movement in Israeli history, dividing the Knesset over a crucial proposal that critics say would threaten the country\u2019s democracy. <\/p>\n
Part of the overhaul is a law that would restrict the court\u2019s ability to strike down government actions it deems \u201cunreasonable.\u201d Israel\u2019s Supreme Court held hearings on the law to curb its powers earlier this month. <\/p>\n
The US president had previously warned against the proposals, suggesting it is an erosion of democracy and could undercut US-Israel relations. <\/p>\n
Asked by Collins about the damage the judicial overhaul poses to US-Israel relations, Netanyahu responded, \u201cI think the damage is not the reform, it\u2019s the way the reform is misrepresented, as some kind of collapse of democracy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it is \u201clikely\u201d Israel will reach a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, in what would mark a seismic foreign policy shift for both countries as they edge closer to reaching a deal mediated by the US. But he refused repeatedly to say what kind of concessions he would offer <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}