Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed his gratitude towards the United States for its effort to normalisation diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
In a speech to Congress on Wednesday, Herzog said the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be transformative.
He also stressed on Israel-US relationship and called it “absolutely unbreakable” despite current challenges.
“Israel thanks the United States for promoting the development of friendly ties between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a major power in the Middle East. We pray for this time to arrive,” Herzog said.
“This would mark a significant turning point in Middle Eastern and global history,” he added.
Israel views normalisation with Saudi Arabia as a strategic prize, and President Joe Biden’s administration is working to secure it for the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since Israel’s foundation in 1948, a few Arab nations have recognised Israel, a crucial US partner in the area. However, the administration of former President Donald Trump worked to achieve deals that will see Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco establish diplomatic relations in 2020.
Recently, Sudan also agreed to a normalisation relationship with Israel and joined the deals, known as the “Abraham Accords”.
According to Saudi officials, Riyadh is committed to the Arab Peace Initiative, which hinges on normalisation with Israel on its withdrawal from Arab areas and the creation of a Palestinian state. A “fair solution” to the plight of Palestinian refugees is also demanded by the initiative.
Herzog also mentioned the matter of Palestine in his speech and blamed the Palestinians for the violence despite Israel’s “yearning” to “one day” achieve peace with the Palestinians.
“Palestinian terror against Israel or Israelis undermines any possibility for a future of peace between our peoples,” he said.
However, according to data from the United Nations, Israel has killed at least 177 Palestinians this year alone. Israel murdered more than 200 Palestinians in 2022. Two of them were US citizens, Omar Assad, a senior Palestinian-American, and Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist for Al Jazeera.
