Israel’s ex-UN envoy Danon: We’ll see peace with Saudi Arabia within a year

Danon was attending the First Annual Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit in Rome, alongside world leaders and diplomats from 30 countries.

By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News Staff

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told World Israel News on Thursday that he expected a normalization deal establishing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia to be signed within a year.

“We are closer than ever to achieving peace between all the sons of Abraham,” Danon told WIN.

“The new government led by Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu will put expanding the Abraham Accords on the top of our list. I believe we’ll see a deal with the Saudis within a year,” he added.

Danon was attending the First Annual Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit in Rome, alongside world leaders and other senior officials from more than 30 countries.

The aim of the summit was to “increase peace and tolerance in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” a statement from its organizers said.

The event celebrated the “seismic change” that the Abraham Accords, which the Trump administration brokered in 2020, has brought to the region, the statement said, with an emphasis on the “shared values that enabled bitter adversaries to become indispensable allies and friends in such a short time.”

Delegates from the Abraham Accords partners, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Israel, were present at the summit as were religious leaders from the three Abrahamic faiths, who underscored traditional values, especially family values, which they share.

Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, Islamic scholar and vice president of the Global Imams Council, said: “We recognize our shared past and build our common future and celebrate the traditional family cohesive unit which forms an essential role in the Abrahamic legacy as it symbolizes love, community, care and respect.”

He emphasized: “Our strong values and Abrahamic traditions endorse the family’s core role in preserving the identity and culture of our societies.”

Pastor Carlos Luna Lam, Founder and Pastor of Casa De Dios of Guatemala, said: “Traditional family values is at the forefront of our Abrahamic heritage. A cohesive family unit with the mother and father at the helm – is critical to our future.”

Senior Rabbi of the UAE Elie Abadie echoed his clergy peers: “Our commitment to the central role of our traditions form the cornerstone of our societies and connects us as we recognize our shared past and build our common future. We celebrate the traditional family values that have sustained and allowed religions and cultures to impact the world in a positive way that has resulted in a commitment to a strong sense of humanity, tolerance, and coexistence.”

According to Danon, who serves as the chairman of World Likud, Netanyahu’s first state visit will be to Abu Dhabi.

“We hope that Riyadh will follow,” he said.

Although Jerusalem and Riyadh don’t have formal ties, the two countries have long engaged in coordination on security and regional issues, primarily focused on the shared Iranian threat.

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir was recently cited by i24 as telling a group of American Jews that Saudi Arabia planned on normalizing relations with Israel but that it would take time.

Netanyahu in October vowed to make peace with Saudi Arabia if reelected.

The Abraham Accords summit concluded with the presentation of the Abrahamic Values Pledge, a joint declaration in which delegates confirmed their support of shared Abrahamic values and what it termed the “foundational pillars of tolerance, coexistence, diversity, religion and family economic peace.”

“While shared humanity is constantly challenged by trends that question the traditional values shared by all Abrahamic religions, our deep-rooted heritage has enabled us to build a vibrant and well-knit society that is both entrepreneurial and innovative in its nature,” the declaration read.

The leadership summit declaration said it valued “economic peace as a vehicle to promote open markets, contributing to more peaceful behavior among states” and “increased collaboration with one another.”

“We celebrate the traditional family values that have sustained and allowed religions and cultures to impact the world in a positive way that has resulted in a commitment to a strong sense of humanity, tolerance, and coexistence,” it concluded.

Benjamin NetanyahuDanny DanonIsrael-Saudi relationsIsraeli-Palestinian conflictLikudUS Mideast policy