Netanyahu says Israel is getting closer to "quantum leap" normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it is “likely” Israel will reach a normalisation 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.

Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in an interview on Friday, Netanyahu touted the potential pact as “a quantum leap” in the region.

It would “change the Middle East forever,” he said – bringing down “walls of enmity” and creating “a corridor of energy pipelines, rail lines, fiber optic cables, between Asia through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates.”

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 the potential to enhance Israel’s acceptance in the Muslim world, particularly considering Saudi Arabia’s role as the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites.

In 2002, Saudi Arabia proposed an “Arab Peace initiative” that offered Israel security and “normal relations” 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.

This week, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that a normalization pact with Israel would be “the biggest historical deal since the Cold War.”

Despite apparent momentum toward a normalization deal, Netanyahu’s 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’s Supreme Court.

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’s democracy.

Part of the overhaul is a law that would restrict the court’s ability to strike down government actions it deems “unreasonable.” Israel’s Supreme Court held hearings on the law to curb its powers earlier this month.

The US president had previously warned against the proposals, suggesting it is an erosion of democracy and could undercut US-Israel relations.

Asked by Collins about the damage the judicial overhaul poses to US-Israel relations, Netanyahu responded, “I think the damage is not the reform, it’s the way the reform is misrepresented, as some kind of collapse of democracy.”