Netanyahu's Government to Riyadh: No Steps with the Authority... Suspension of the Normalization Process

SadaNews - Israel has informed Saudi Arabia, through a call between Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that it is not prepared at this stage for any political path with the Palestinian Authority, including negotiations or steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, and therefore rejects Saudi conditions to proceed with the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. The newspaper "Israel Hayom," citing "American and Arab diplomatic sources," noted that Dermer made contact with the Saudi side weeks ago, during which the Crown Prince requested clarifications from Israel about its plans to end the war on Gaza and the day after the war. During the call, Dermer stated that Israel is "determined to defeat Hamas and ensure that it does not raise its head again," stressing the Israeli government's refusal to discuss the formation of any body to manage the sector after the war, and its rejection to involve the Palestinian Authority in such an arrangement. According to the report, the message conveyed by Dermer to the Saudi side was that Israel "will not make any political concessions towards the Palestinian Authority at this stage, neither in announcing its readiness to negotiate nor through practical steps towards a Palestinian state," which are Riyadh's conditions to advance in the normalization process. These positions, according to sources, have led Riyadh to suspend the normalization option with Israel and move forward with a partnership with France to recognize the State of Palestine, and it also indicated that Saudi Arabia has started to exclude Israel from the equation of regional projects led by bin Salman in partnership with Washington.