Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said he was glad to hear the optimistic tone from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about ongoing efforts to normalize relations between the two countries.
‘I was delighted to hear what he had to say,’ Netanyahu told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier in an exclusive interview on ‘Special Report’ following his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. ‘I think we’re getting closer to peace every day that passes.’
Netanyahu’s remarks came in response to Baier’s world exclusive interview with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) this week about ongoing talks between the kingdom and Israel.
‘Every day we get closer, it seems it’s for the first time real. We get to see how it goes,’ the prince said.
The prince called the potential agreement ‘the biggest historical deal since the end of the Cold War,’ which he stated would rest upon agreements related to the treatment of the Palestinians. He insisted his country could work with Israel, no matter who is in charge, calling the deal.’
‘If we have a breakthrough of reaching a deal that gives the Palestinians their needs and makes the region calm, we’re going to work with whoever is there,’ said MBS.
The prince did not specify what he seeks for the Palestinians. Netanyahu said Palestinians should be part of the peace process, but that they shouldn’t ‘have a veto over the process.’
‘The reason we didn’t have for a quarter-century any new peace treaties after we made peace with Egypt and Jordan, we didn’t have for 25 years a single new peace treaty because everybody said, first you have to satisfy whatever the demands of the Palestinians are,’ Netanyahu told Baier. ‘You’ve got to conclude a peace treaty with the Palestinians. Well, there was only one problem with that. The Palestinians don’t want a peace with Israel.’
‘They want a peace instead of Israel. They don’t want a state next to Israel,’ Netanyahu added. ‘They want a state instead of Israel. So that wasn’t going to get us anywhere.’
During his Friday speech at the UNGA, Netanyahu said both nations were ‘on the cusp’ of a breakthrough leading to a peace agreement.
Israel has normalized relations with six countries near its borders, including Egypt and Jordan. Four nations did so after the 2020 Abraham Accords.
‘There’s no question the Abraham Accords heralded the dawn of a new age of peace. But I believe that we are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough, a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia,’ Netanyahu said. ‘Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will truly create a new Middle East.’
He said there remain hurdles before a peace agreement can be achieved but that it’s up to world leaders to come together and put aside their differences.
‘I think that when you have three leaders and three countries that avidly want a result – the United States under President Biden, Saudi Arabia under the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israel under my premiership – I think that really raises the possibility we’ll succeed.’
The Associated Press contributed to this report.