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NEW REPORT: Progress Made on Normalization Deal with Saudis, To Be Discussed in First Trump-Netanyahu Meeting
|ByMatis Glenn2 MIN READ
Published Feb. 2, 2025, 2:49 PM
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MBS, Netanyahu and Trump
By Matis Glenn:
Teams dedicated to normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia will reportedly be among the items Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump will discuss in their meeting this week, Kan news anchor Michael Shemesh reported Sunday.
Shemesh wrote on social media that “Initial contacts have begun to establish teams that will deal with the issue,” and that in Israel, “they are expecting progress in the talks in the background of the Netanyahu-Trump meeting.”
The Saudis have consistently stated that any normalization deal with Israel will include the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, a condition Netanyahu is firmly against, and has only increased his opposition to the idea after the Oct. 7 massacre, along with the majority of the Israeli public and elected officials. However reports have circulated that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is open to the idea nevertheless, especially as he and other gulf states increasingly see an alliance with Israel as a hedge against the Iranian threat.
Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump in Washington after the latter took office on Jan. 20.
As he was boarding an airplane, Netanyahu said he plans to discuss “redrawing” the Middle East, while the immediate issue remains the fate of the hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza with the Hamas terror group.
Netanyahu said his meeting “will deal with important, critical issues facing Israel and the region — victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages, and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components, an axis that threatens the peace of Israel, the Middle East, and the entire world.”
Netanyahu says that the fact that he is the first foreign head of state to meet Trump is “a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It’s also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship.”
“The decisions we’ve made in the war have already changed the face of the Middle East,” Netanyahu declared.
“Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map. But I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further, and for the better.”
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