On the Verge of Normalization: Netanyahu, MBS Spoke Twice Recently

By Staff, Agencies

Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [MBS] spoke on the phone twice in recent weeks, with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani facilitating the calls, a foreign diplomatic source said Monday.

Netanyahu and MBS spoke before and after last week’s Arab League meeting to discuss the possibility of normalization between the Zionist entity and Saudi Arabia.

No progress was made in the conversations, and MBS rejected a request from Netanyahu to meet, the source claimed.

According to an ‘Israeli’ diplomatic source, “There is optimism” in ‘Tel Aviv’ about the continuing efforts.”

Additionally, Zionist Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Zayani spoke on the phone on Sunday night, the Foreign Ministry said.

Last week, Cohen told ‘The Jerusalem Post’ normalization with Saudi Arabia was “not a matter of if, but of when. We and Saudi Arabia have the same interests.”

He said White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein had spoken to MBS about normalization with ‘Israel’ during their visit to Jeddah this month.

Normalization with Saudi Arabia could come within the next six months to a year, though senior Saudi officials have always said publicly that headway must be made between ‘Israel’ and the Palestinians for Riyadh to take that step, Cohen told N12 Saturday night.