JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia would be a great leap to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"We want normalization and peace with Saudi Arabia. We see it may be a great leap to end the Arab-Israeli conflict," Prime Minister Netanyahu said on the sidelines of a meeting with US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in Jerusalem.
"This agreement can have monumental consequences, historical consequences for both Israel, Saudi Arabia, the region and the world," continued PM Netanyahu.
Israel is known to have opened diplomatic relations with several Arab countries since 2020, including Saudi Arabia's neighbors, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. However, Riyadh refrained from recognizing Israel, saying such a move should be linked to the completion of the Palestinian state's goals.
A crushing blow to PM Netanyahu came last month when a China-brokered deal saw Israel's main regional enemy, Iran, correcting its ties to Saudi Arabia. The Iranian embassy in Riyadh reopened its gates last Wednesday for the first time in seven years.
Separately, Israel's Foreign Ministry said it had asked China to exert influence on Iran, to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons on Monday.
"I spoke with China's Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, about the dangers we see in Iran's nuclear program, the dangers experienced by many countries in the region, including countries with diplomatic relations with Iran," Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in a statement.
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