Report: Netanyahu ready to quit in exchange for a Saudi peace deal, dismissal of criminal charges

The prime minister is committed to “making any deal with the Saudis possible, even at the price of toppling his own government,” according to the report.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied a report that he is prepared to resign from his position in exchange for a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia as well as dropping the criminal charges he faces.

His Likud party, however, released a statement saying the report that it was a “farfetched fabrication.”

According to the ultra-Orthodox Hamodia newspaper, Netanyahu had acknowledged that his “political career is nearing an end”, and that he “does not have the capacity to manage the country in Israel’s current political state.”

According to the report, the Israeli leader is ready to make “any deal with the Saudis possible, even at the price of toppling his own government.”

The report also maintained that he had agreed to a plea bargain in which he would resign if the criminal trials he faces were dismissed.

Likud said in its statement that there was “never any commitment or request made to change the current make-up of the government [in relation to the normalization efforts],” and emphasized that Netanyahu’s government “will fulfil its tenure regardless of the prime minister’s attempts to widen Israel’s circle of peace.”

Benjamin NetanyahuCriminal investigationIsrael-Saudi relationsSaudi Arabia