Netanyahu sends veiled message of unity to his coalition partners, asking them to cooperate with him in future negotiations with the Saudis.
By World Israel News Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Wednesday that the Biden administration does not support conditioning a deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel on a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Israel National News quoted Netanyahu as telling Likud MKs at the party’s faction meeting this morning: “What we have going on with Saudi Arabia right now was considered fiction only a few years back.”
“Yesterday Tourism Minister, Haim Katz landed in Saudi Arabia. We have been flying over Saudi Arabia for several years. We are talking about connecting [the two country’s] infrastructure.”
“It didn’t happen by itself, it happened because we fought for years to change the equation. We had to convince many of our fellow Israelis – as well as our American allies – to ignore the Palestinian veto on [peace with the Arab world.]”
“We are obligated to work to expand the circle of peace, and we do so while safeguarding the vital interests of the State of Israel, chief among them security,” added Netanyahu.
“We had to prove our determination and strength in standing up against Iran’s aggression and nuclearization in the region and prove ourselves as a technological and economic power. That’s what brought about the Abraham Accords,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
Netanyahu also delivered a veiled message to Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, urging him to rethink his decision to hold an evening prayer in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square after left-wing protests disrupted Yom Kippur prayers.
“We are obliged to make an effort to reduce friction and strengthen unity” Netanyahu was quoted as saying.
Following Yom Kippur clashes in Tel Aviv between Jewish worshippers and secular activists, National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that he will pray in the liberal city’s central Dizengoff Square this Thursday.“This Yom Kippur we saw haters trying to expel Judaism from the public sphere. Israel is a Jewish, democratic state!” Ben-Gvir wrote on social media platform X, shortly after the holiday ended on Monday evening.“This coming Thursday I will hold an evening prayer in [Dizengoff] Square, the public is invited!” he added. Although he did not elaborate further, Ben-Gvir was likely referring to traditional Orthodox prayer, which requires gender segregation. An anonymous official from the Tel Aviv municipality reacted with fury to Ben-Gvir’s announcement, telling Hebrew-language media outlets that “it is absurd that ministers in the government call for ignoring the court’s decisions [banning separation by sex in public].”
The official bemoaned what they said would be additional use of police resources to safeguard Ben-Gvir’s prayer session from left-wing protesters, calling it “absurd that the municipality needs to secure a protest prayer organized by a minister in the government.”
Later, Netanyahu referred to his meeting with the entrepreneur billionaire Elon Musk: “[AI] affects our lives. Everyone can already feel it in their field of expertise. This is only the beginning, and it is going to change [the world] both for the better and for the worse. We need to maximize the good, and control the bad as much as possible. We have no choice but to place Israel at the head of this field,” he said.