Israeli President Isaac Herzog says that a normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia could be a historic “game-changer” in the Middle East.
Speaking at the Israel Democracy Institute, Herzog said that he had discussed the possibility with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday.
“There is an option for normalization with Saudi Arabia. This is a move that could bring about tremendous change, a historic ‘game-changer’ that constitutes a victory over the empire of evil,” Herzog said.
Herzog said that “empire” was more than Hamas, and that Israel’s enemies were trying to destroy its international connections.
“Iran and its proxies, along with various promoters of boycotts, are attempting in every way to damage these connections through an aggressive, cynical international campaign against us. This was evident yesterday in the outrageous statement by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, who equated the government of Israel — a democratic state — with the leaders of a murderous terrorist organization.”
Reaction to ICC move: Herzog said the ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was “ostensibly a legal frontline, but it is a strategic frontline, and it has implications across all sectors: military, diplomatic, and economic.”
