How the Saudis are sneaking into Phase II of the Hamas-Israel deal – report

Both the Israeli and American leaders would like to see a broader agreement that would have normalized relations with Riyadh as the new end game.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

With American support, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to reshape the negotiations over Phase 2 of the hostage deal to turn it into a much broader agreement that would have normalized relations with Riyadh as the new end game, Haaretz reported Sunday.

According to the Israeli daily, after Netanyahu meets U.S. President Donald Trump Tuesday in the White House, they will make a joint statement about developments on the Saudi-Israel track.
It is as yet unknown whether the statement will be more symbolic than concrete, but Haaretz said that the president’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been working on its contents while pointing out that Witkoff had just visited Riyadh last week.

Netanyahu has already pushed off the start date for negotiating Phase 2, which was supposed to begin Monday in Qatar, to after his return from Washington.

Walla cited senior Israeli officials as saying that the negotiations will not just focus as Phase 1 did on the return of hostages, just this time bargaining for the younger, living men still being held captive by Hamas, but on strategic issues like the removal of Hamas as the ruling entity in Gaza, and the end of the war.

Throughout the 15 months of fighting in Gaza following the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, Saudi Arabia has made it clear that it will not progress towards ties with Israel unless the war ends and a viable vision for a Palestinian state is formulated.

Riyadh has concentrated on some kind of reformed Palestinian Authority, not minding if Hamas is taken out of the picture. For his part, Netanyahu has repeatedly said the PA is just as much a terror-supporting entity that cannot take charge of Gaza.

Another Netanyahu decision that points to changing the focus of negotiations was his announcement that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer would be taking the lead as the talks will be on “the day after,” and thus “political and strategic.”

The prime minister indicated that Dermer will mainly be talking with Witkoff rather than with Egyptian and Qatari negotiators, in an effort, said Walla, “to reach a breakthrough in the ‘grand deal’ with Saudi Arabia.”

The American envoy is expected to talk with Cairo and Doha after understandings are reached with the Israelis, and he or his team may fly in and out of the Arab capitals as a result of the talks as well.

Before taking off for Washington Sunday, Netanyahu made clear that the broader issues were what he was interested in coming to agreement with Trump about, albeit without mentioning the name “Saudi Arabia.”

Saying that the decisions Israel had made during the war “have already changed the face of the Middle East beyond recognition. I think that with joint and intensive work with President Trump we can change it even further, and for the good.”

“We can strengthen Israel’s security, we can further broaden the circle of peace, and can bring about a wonderful era we never dreamed of” before, he added.

Meanwhile, most of the families of the hostages still in Hamas hands are insisting that Phase 2 should be implemented as is, having already been passed in a vote by the Israeli Cabinet.