Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to make relations with Saudi Arabia official and public before the next Israeli general election Hadashot TV news reported Saturday evening.
The report said the US and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen were involved in the diplomatic effort though no further details were provided.
A senior diplomatic source told Hadashot that Israel was conducting extensive talks with many Arab nations based on a shared interest in countering Iran.
The Prime Minister’s Office would not comment on the report keeping efforts in this regard in the shadows.
Netanyahu has for years spoken about the warming of ties between Israel and the Arab world citing not only Iran as a common enemy but also many countries’ interest in cooperating with Israel on security matters as well as Israel’s growing high-tech war industry.
In October Oman welcomed the Israeli premier in an internationally-condemned visit which marked an apparent sign of Israeli progress in normalizing ties with the Gulf states.
Other reports said Israel is also working to normalize relations with Bahrain.
Netanyahu reportedly urged Washington not to abandon its support for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following his country’s killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
A report in The Washington Post said Netanyahu told Trump administration officials that bin Salman was a key strategic partner and a linchpin of the alliance against Iranian encroachment in the region.
In public comments on the death of Khashoggi the Israeli leader called the killing “horrendous” but stressed that “it is very important for the stability of the region and the world that Saudi Arabia remain stable.”
Many Democrats in Washington were said to have been furious at Netanyahu’s defense of the Saudis.
US senators last week said they were convinced that bin Salman was involved in the murder of Khashoggi after a briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel.
