Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that normalization with Israel would require significant progress toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

By JNS

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday that achieving peace with Saudi Arabia remains one of his greatest aspirations, expressing admiration for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and calling for closer ties between Jews and Muslims across the Middle East.

“It is my dream to see peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. I have great respect for Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The thing that we want most in Israel is to see rapprochement between the nations,” Herzog said in an interview conducted in Jerusalem with the state-owned, Riyadh-based news channel Al-Arabiya.

“The dialogue between Jerusalem and Mecca should be the real gist of it, because I believe Jew and Muslim need to dwell together in this region in peace,” he continued.

“I guess I can’t come to Riyadh just as an ordinary citizen, but I hope to be able to realize this dream and meet the Saudi Arabian leadership officially in due course.”

Herzog praised the Abraham Accords as a model for regional cooperation.

“We are very happy about the Abraham Accords, and we’re very proud of our relations with the Kingdom of Morocco, the Kingdom of Bahrain and with the United Arab Emirates, which is just an example of how successful it can be,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that normalization with Israel would require significant progress toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

U.S. officials have continued to express hope that a normalization agreement could be reached as part of a broader regional realignment.

Addressing Iran’s recent actions in the region, Herzog accused Tehran of repeatedly violating agreements.

“I am not surprised that this is the situation, because with the Iranian pattern of behavior, which we know, it is impossible to do deals. They violate them all the time. They have their own way of interpreting things that are very, very clear,” he said.

Herzog welcomed Washington’s response to the latest developments.

“I’m happy that the American reaction is firm so that everybody understands, especially the Iranians, that they have to go back on track if they really want to implement an exit from the war,” he said.

The president also emphasized the strength of U.S.-Israel ties despite occasional disagreements.

“There is a close and good dialogue, especially in closed rooms. We can have our differences. It’s only natural, but in the end, they’re tactical,” Herzog said.

“We all understand that we are faced with an empire of evil in Tehran, with its proxies, with its belief that the United States is the big Satan and Israel is the small Satan.”

Herzog praised U.S. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“I respect President Trump, and I respect Vice President JD Vance, and I respect Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the entire administration. We work closely with them on many issues, and I believe that the grand picture—which the United States should push with Europe and others—is the connectivity between the East and the West,” he said.

The post Herzog: Peace with Saudi Arabia remains ‘my dream’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Fewer than one in five Lebanese now oppose normalizing ties with Israel while nearly half of Syrians support relations with the Jewish state.

By World Israel News Staff

Lebanese opposition to normalization with Israel has fallen sharply since the start of the year, while a plurality of Syrians support normalization if the Palestinian issue is resolved, according to new polling by the Council for a Secure America.

The surveys, conducted in Arabic by YouGov and released on Tuesday, found that only 19% of Lebanese respondents said they opposed normalization of diplomatic or economic relations with Israel following a long-term resolution of the Palestinian issue.

That was down from 31% in January.

Support for such normalization in Lebanon rose to 32%, putting supporters ahead of opponents for the first time in the group’s tracking. Another large share of respondents remained undecided or did not give a position.

The Lebanese results mark a significant shift in a country where contact with Israel is criminalized and where Hezbollah has long held major military and political power.

The poll found that 28% of Lebanese respondents said the country should repeal laws criminalizing dealings with Israel, while 32% said those laws should remain in place. Forty percent did not answer.

The survey also found that 40% of Lebanese respondents believed normalization would help the country’s economy, compared with 22% who said it would harm it.

A 41% plurality said they considered eventual peace between Israel and Lebanon likely, while 27% said it was unlikely.

“For years, the conventional wisdom held that Lebanese society was immovably opposed to any relationship with Israel. This data demolishes that assumption,” Jennifer Sutton, executive director of the Council for a Secure America, said.

“Opposition to normalization has been cut nearly in half since January, a clear plurality now wants the laws criminalizing contact with Israel off the books, and a majority sees Hezbollah’s arsenal as a threat to Lebanon’s own security. That is not a marginal shift; it is a public laying the groundwork for a different future,” she added.

The decline in opposition was also visible among Lebanese Muslim respondents. According to the survey, Muslim opposition to normalization fell from 31% in January to 23% in June, while Muslim support rose from 19% to 28%. Among Christians, support increased from 37% to 43%.

The poll also showed broad concern over Hezbollah’s role inside Lebanon. Fifty-nine percent of Lebanese respondents said Hezbollah’s military presence has a negative effect on national security, compared with 11% who said it has a positive effect.

Fifty-eight percent said they supported President Joseph Aoun’s efforts to strengthen the Lebanese Army and negotiate Hezbollah’s disarmament so that all armed forces operate under government authority.

The Syria poll showed a related but somewhat different pattern. Forty-six percent of Syrians said they would support normalization of diplomatic or economic relations with Israel if the Palestinian issue were resolved on a long-term basis, compared with 19% who said they would oppose it.

The survey also found that 57% of Syrians believed peace between Syria and Israel was likely in the future, while 16% said it was unlikely. Fifty-three percent said they would support the new Syrian government signing a security arrangement with Israel aimed at ensuring Syria’s safety and prosperity, compared with 11% opposed.

Sutton said the Syrian results reflected a major shift after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime and Hezbollah’s role in supporting it during the civil war.

“Roughly 18 months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syrians have rendered a clear verdict on the militia that helped keep that regime in power,” she said. “More than two-thirds now call Hezbollah’s involvement in their country harmful, a majority would back a formal security arrangement with Israel, and most expect peace between the two nations in the years ahead. A Syrian public saying such things on the record would have been unthinkable a few years ago.”

The survey found that 68% of Syrians described Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria as negative, including 52% who called it “very negative.” Only 6% viewed the group’s involvement positively.

Still, Syrian attitudes toward Israel and the US cooled compared with the winter.

Support for a security arrangement with Israel fell from 64% in January to 53% in June. Positive views of the US role in Syria’s political and economic affairs fell from 65% to 51%, though they still outnumbered negative views, which stood at 22%.

“There has been some cooling since January, and it is real,” Sutton said. “But openness to Israel and to an American role remains the majority position in Syria today. The trajectory of the past year is the story that matters.”

The findings stand in contrast to broader regional polling released earlier this year by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, which found strong opposition to recognizing Israel across much of the Arab world during the Gaza war.

That survey found 87% opposition across 15 Arab countries, including 89% in Lebanon, underscoring how results can vary sharply depending on question wording, timing and whether normalization is tied to a resolution of the Palestinian issue.

The Council for a Secure America surveys were conducted online among adults in Lebanon and Syria. The Lebanon survey included 260 respondents from May 26 to June 1, while the Syria survey included 252 respondents from May 28 to June 5.

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Israel could remain one of the few actors capable of helping counter potential future attacks from Tehran.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Sunni Arab countries in the Middle East are increasingly concerned about the possibility of a resurgent Iran after the current war and want continued protection from the United States and Israel, according to information obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

Israeli officials say large-scale Iranian missile and drone attacks during the conflict have altered how Sunni states view the regional threat environment.

According to the IDF, the scale of the direct attacks has heightened fears among those governments that they could face similar strikes in the future.

Officials say those concerns are compounded by the perception that the United States has reduced its willingness to act as the primary security guarantor for those countries.

In that scenario, Israel could remain one of the few actors capable of helping counter potential future attacks from Tehran.

Iran has already targeted multiple Sunni-led states in recent confrontations, including countries that normalized relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia has also faced Iranian attacks despite not being part of the accords.

Israel has maintained various forms of cooperation with countries outside the Abraham Accords framework.

Some of those activities occur through the US Civilian-Military Coordination Center under CENTCOM, while other contacts have taken place through clandestine channels involving the Mossad.

In earlier years, Israel acknowledged that former Mossad chiefs held meetings with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In September 2023, Mohammed bin Salman said Israel and Saudi Arabia were close to reaching normalization.

However, the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, and heavy casualties in Gaza, caused Riyadh to back away from establishing formal diplomatic ties with Israel.

Saudi officials have said they prefer to revisit the issue with a different Israeli leader once Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer in power.

Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post that the current confrontation with Iran could prompt Saudi Arabia to reconsider its position, though disagreements over Gaza’s future — including Saudi support for the Palestinian Authority replacing Hamas — remain a major obstacle.

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The language surfaced as Riyadh joined seven other Muslim-majority countries, among them the United Arab Emirates, in criticizing what they called Israel’s alleged violations of a Gaza ceasefire.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A visible hardening of rhetoric in Saudi state-aligned newspapers and sermons is casting doubt on how quickly relations with Israel could move toward normalization, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

In recent weeks, Saudi editorials have accused Israel of breaching international law, expanding settlements, and carrying out repeated arrests and raids in the Palestinian territories.

One commentary asserted that Israeli presence brings “ruin and destruction,” while another argued that daily realities on the ground have “systematically eroded trust in diplomacy.”

The shift has also appeared in religious discourse. Sheikh Saleh bin Humaid, speaking at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, prayed during a sermon, “Oh God, deal with the Jews who have seized and occupied, for they cannot escape your power.”

The language surfaced as Riyadh joined seven other Muslim-majority countries, among them the United Arab Emirates, in criticizing what they called Israel’s alleged violations of a Gaza ceasefire.

The war that followed Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack halted US-brokered discussions that had been described as a pathway for Saudi Arabia to enter the Abraham Accords.

The Anti-Defamation League warned that the tone in Saudi media and religious messaging risked spreading antisemitic sentiment and undermining prospects for coexistence.

“ADL is alarmed by the increasing frequency and volume of prominent Saudi voices … using openly antisemitic dog whistles and aggressively pushing anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric,” the organization said.

According to analysts cited by The Wall Street Journal, the sharper criticism also intersects with tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Some Saudi columnists have linked their attacks on Israel to criticism of Abu Dhabi’s ties with the Jewish state, with one writer describing the UAE as “the Israeli Trojan horse in the Arab world.”

Israeli officials told the Journal that Riyadh’s diplomatic posture has changed since the Gaza conflict began.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was monitoring the situation, stating, “We expect from anybody who wants normalization or peace with us that they not participate in efforts directed by forces or ideologies that want the opposite of peace.”

At the same time, Saudi defense officials met US counterparts in Washington to discuss overlapping regional interests.

Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who attended the meeting, said Saudi representatives recognized that the rhetoric was creating problems in Washington and conveyed a readiness to reduce tensions with Israel.

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The sense of betrayal is evident as Al-Hail speaks. After all, he had known Tamim bin Hamad for many years and felt the trust between them had been broken.

By Shachar Kleiman, JNS

“We are open to normal relations with Israel,” head of the Qatar National Democratic Party and opposition leader Khalid Al-Hail declared.

In an interview with Israel Hayom, he presented a rare glimpse inside the Gulf emirate.

The conversation took place in London on the evening of Jan. 13. Al-Hail has lived there in exile since he was forced to flee his homeland. Most recently, he was forced to use his intelligence agency connections to evade trial and lengthy imprisonment.

Qatar has undergone two palace coups over the past 30 years. In 1995, Hamad bin Khalifa deposed his father while the latter was visiting Switzerland. Eight years later, his son Tamim bin Hamad was appointed crown prince.

Tamim was not the eldest son, but his mother, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, pulled strings on his behalf.

The sheikha is one of the most powerful women in the emirates, one who is also connected to Islamist currents and the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The emir’s fourth wife promoted her son to the position of crown prince. In 2013, in a somewhat strange televised statement, Hamad announced his resignation and the transfer of powers to his son.

“Generally speaking, it’s been the same system since 1995, Al-Hail said.

“Since that coup, the government has maintained the same ideology and ideas. Tamim bin Hamad is a man who hides under his mother’s skirt. On many issues in Qatar, he has nothing to say, but he goes with the flow of what the Islamists and strategists working for them decide for the country.

“He is subject to manipulation by Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, which is essentially the ideological mother of Hamas,” Al-Hail added.

Q: Is Sheikha Moza considered stronger than him?

Al-Hail: She is very strong and influences her son. She essentially controls many aspects of the country because Tamim, unfortunately, is subject to manipulation by others in his decisions. Usually, he acts out of anger, and not from what’s best for his country or the interests of the people.

History of betrayals

Q: In this context, what is Qatar’s position regarding the protests in Iran? Is there fear that it will affect people in Qatar?

A: A few years ago, when the government canceled the elections, there were some protests in Qatar. Many people may not know about this, but you can search for it on Google and find the videos. Tamim fled the country at that time.

He was so scared that he believed a small movement of a thousand people could really change the regime in Qatar. He is a very weak man.

Therefore, what’s happening now in Iran definitely has an impact. The regime in Qatar helps the mullah regime maintain its power, because there are many shared interests there.

Don’t forget that the regimes of Qatar and Iran have two proxy fronts—Iran’s Hezbollah and Qatar’s Muslim Brotherhood. The same goes for Hamas and all the terror organizations that receive support from them.

Most of the leaders of terror organizations live in Qatar, because they carry the same ideology. From what I know, many senior Iranian officials sent their children to Qatar in the past week. Many children of senior Revolutionary Guards officials are in Qatar.

Q: Would you say Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood should be removed from Qatar? What is your position on the matter?

A: Their presence is unacceptable. First of all, we shouldn’t negotiate with terrorists. The claims of the Qatari regime are that it mediates between Hamas and Israel. … No one wants to discuss anything with terrorists.

They created Hamas, they are Hamas’s sponsors, they support Hamas, and push it toward illegal activity. They also promote Hamas through Qatari media via the Al Jazeera channel and others.

Where does [Gazan documentary director] Ashraf al-Mashrawi live? Where do all the senior Hamas officials live? In Qatar. So they shouldn’t have existence in Qatar.

You saw the Israeli strike against those terrorists. Such things are not acceptable in Qatar, and people don’t want this to happen. We don’t want their presence in Doha. They shouldn’t be there.

Q: What is your party’s position regarding relations with Israel?

A: We are very open to a normal and natural relationship with the State of Israel, because we believe this is the way to create regional stability. That’s the first thing.

Second thing, the idea of how the Qatari government has positioned itself as supporting Hamas, supporting revolution, supporting nonsense—we are not interested in this. We just need our country to be a normal country, with normal relations with strong countries like Israel.

Don’t forget that the Qatari regime betrayed Israel in 1996. They invited Prime Minister Shimon Peres to visit Qatar in 1996 and promised, ‘We will have a normal relationship.’ And then in 1999, they turned their backs on the Israelis and began supporting Hamas.

And why did they lie? Because they were trying to please America at that time. This is the long history of betrayal by the Qatari regime. That’s why no one supports it, not even our own people.

Buying influence

Al-Hail views the Qatari regime’s overseas interference particularly negatively, including in Western academia. There, the Qatari Foundation has invested enormous wealth in elite universities.

Just last September, a serious report on the subject was published by Jewish Virtual Library, based on official data.

According to the report, Qatar distributed a massive sum of $6.6 billion—more than any other Arab country, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Qatari politician has a clear position on the matter: Stop the games and return to being a “normal country.” Moreover, he accuses the Doha regime of direct involvement in anti-Israel protests.

“As you know, there is a large movement in the West against Israel that is entirely funded by Qatar. People go to pro-Palestinian demonstrations and don’t understand what they’re doing. They’re just there.

They’re just there because they’re being paid. Can you believe there are students being manipulated by their professors, who were funded by the Qatari government? They’re just there to please their professors and please the Qatari agenda.

Just to get some money or the Qatari government’s support for their seat at the university. This needs to be stopped, we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Q: In this context, what do you think about the Qatari regime’s involvement in influence operations in foreign countries, as published in Israel?

A: “Qatargate” and all these scandals are because of the Qatari government. It has no normal language of negotiation except to pay money and buy influence.

The only problem is there’s no one else fighting it in its game. He [the emir] wakes up in the morning and decides to sign a check for $100 million. He will sign it because no one will tell him he can’t. So he will support whoever he wants. He will give money to whoever he wants.

Al-Hail also views with disfavor the relationships between American officials and Qatari figures, which were exposed during the war.

For example, last September, The New York Times revealed that the son of United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who led the hostage negotiations, was involved in financial initiatives in the Gulf.

According to the publication, Alex Witkoff tried to raise enormous capital from government investors in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Doha seethed with fury. The Ministry of International Communications in the emirate published a denial statement within days.

Qatar confirmed that business relationships with the American envoy have long existed, but did not specifically address dealings with his son during the mediation process.

“The claims that Qatar tried to cultivate a relationship with Mr. Witkoff through a lobbying program, years before he was appointed to public office, including his recent role as Middle East envoy, are completely false and so lacking in credibility that they can only be described as absurd,” was conveyed from the emirate.

Q: What does the Trump administration not understand about Qatar?

A: The current position of the American administration toward Qatar is quite embarrassing, but I know exactly what Qatar did. It buys influence around Trump, and buys some of the close people just to convince them that the Qataris are good allies for regional stability and that they can negotiate. But how can you negotiate with a country like Qatar?

How can their mediation be accepted? After all, they are the ones creating these movements, these terrorists, and at the end of the day, they just want people to rely on them in negotiations.

Basically, when Israel conducted negotiations with Hamas, it was negotiating with Qatar, not with Hamas. Hamas has no say, it’s a terror organization, a militia, not a country or government. It’s simply a bunch of terrorists who want to kill everyone without any reason except money.

Beyond that, the Qatari politician attacks sharply and condemns unambiguously the Oct. 7 massacre. He is furious about the acts of murder, comes out against the culture of denial promoted by the Qatari Al Jazeera network, and sides with Israel’s right to defend itself.

“Hamas is happy even that Gaza was destroyed, because this way they can collect the money again and again and again. That’s why October 7 happened. It’s all a money game for them, it’s not the people or the [Palestinian] issue. They’re a bunch of terrorists who want to sow chaos in the Middle East, and then they cry about what happened—‘Oh no, look what they did to us.’ But you did this to yourselves! Nations defend themselves.

“I saw some horrific pictures from October 7. These are pictures that people don’t see in the Middle East. Why doesn’t Al Jazeera push those videos?

They present October 7 as a victory by some terrorists, but never show the other side. For every woman or man who was murdered, they say these are Israeli soldiers or military figures.

That’s a lie. I saw stories about innocent civilians who were murdered there. And the sexual assaults—it’s unbelievable.”

Al-Hail also recounts the dramatic moments that almost led to his imprisonment for many years. He is not the first who dared say something critical about the regime and was arrested.

In an absolute monarchy, you cannot say what’s on your mind. Yet, due to the extensive connections he had with the ruling elite, he mistakenly thought that perhaps he was immune.

“I was in London in the previous decade on banking matters, and I had a dispute with Tamim,” Al-Hail recalled. “And then he called me and said, ‘Please come back to Qatar, we’ll be friends again. Everything will be fine.’

“So I returned to Doha—and straight from the diplomatic area at the airport, I was sent to a detention center. There was a senior official in the intelligence apparatus who threw in my face that I ‘want to change the regime,’ and mentioned ‘the shit you said about al-Qaradawi’ [Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, who lived in Qatar and died in 2022]. ‘You said these things about us.’

“You understand? Tamim bin Hamad called me and betrayed me. He called me to Doha and lied. It was a really bad experience, and I don’t wish anyone to go through it.

Later, I simply fled the country illegally, found my way out, and thank God, I’m still alive. I also had people there. Tamim is a foolish man, he thinks he has influence, but I have too. I have people in the army and in the Mukhabarat [intelligence agencies].”

‘Qatar PM – a puppet’

The sense of betrayal is evident as Al-Hail speaks. After all, he had known Tamim bin Hamad for many years and felt the trust between them had been broken.

“I know Tamim better than anyone else,” he said. “I sat with him, talked with him like I’m talking with you now. I dealt with economics and was a businessman. I also have family connections with Tamim, because his mother belongs to our tribe.

So we had normal family relations. He played tennis and we had mutual friends. This was before he was the crown prince. He wasn’t supposed to be the crown prince. His brother had the title at the time.”

There are other senior government officials considered pro-Western, such as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Sheikh Mohammed supposedly served in the role of mediator in contacts for a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

He met more than once with Israeli, American and Egyptian officials, and with the terror organization’s team abroad. He also participated in talks about the most recent ceasefire agreement.

From time to time, Mohammed gives interviews and spreads the regime’s slogans, according to which Qatar acted only in coordination with Israel and with the U.S. Toward the end of the interview, when I ask Al-Hail about him, he responds with decisiveness.

“He’s a joke. During my time in Qatar, he was nothing. We were friends together on one of the committees. He led small and medium Qatari companies. At that time, he didn’t do a good job—so we transferred him to a position where he worked directly with Tamim bin Hamad.

Later, he came to the Foreign Ministry and subsequently became prime minister. He has no power base or history. This man is a puppet, he has no brain.”

Despite these things, Al-Hail remains hopeful about his ability to bring about change in the emirate and turn it into a constitutional monarchy—a democratic system in which all the country’s founding families are involved.

“Our main obstacle as a party is that Qatar is an absolute monarchy. They canceled all forms of democratic participation. They prohibit the existence of all parties and political movements in Qatar.

In 2023, they even canceled all elections in Qatar because they began to see the parliament presenting oppositional voices. So the obstacle is that the opposition becomes illegal. The only voice the government wants people to hear is the voice of Tamim bin Hamad and his gang.”

According to Al-Hail, “In the past, there were two tribes that ruled the country, and now it’s a show of one person, which is unacceptable. All the founding families need to be part of the Majlis Al Sayda, the State of Qatar’s supreme governing council.

There are many people who support this, but what you see in Qatar is not the truth, it’s a police state. In Israel, you can express your opinion. You can criticize the prime minister. No one will tell you anything. In Qatar, you cannot. You just say ‘Tamim is dead’—and you’re sent to prison for 15 years.”

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Syrian analyst Alia Mansour said peace with Israel benefits all sides and revealed that President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has publicly acknowledged openness to a future peace deal.

The post WATCH: ‘Peace with Israel would benefit everyone,’ says Syrian political analyst appeared first on World Israel News.

Israel confirmed earlier in the day that it has sent an official delegation to the latest round of talks in Lebanon.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Lebanon indicated Wednesday that it may accept a new security role for foreign forces in the country’s south, with Prime Minister Najib Mikati telling Ynet that Beirut is open to allowing American and French soldiers to “verify concerns regarding Hezbollah’s weapons in southern Lebanon.”

His remarks were delivered shortly after an oversight committee convened in the area, where representatives from several countries are meeting to preserve the fragile ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.

Mikati said Lebanon is prepared to expand the scope of discussions with Israel, noting, “We are ready for negotiations beyond military negotiations with Israel.”

He added that full normalization “is related to the peace process,” and argued that if both sides adhered to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, progress would eventually follow, though he emphasized that “we are still far from that.”

According to him, economic discussions “will be part of any normalization process with Israel, which will come after a peace agreement.”

Israel confirmed earlier in the day that it has sent an official delegation to the latest round of talks in Lebanon, led by Uri Resnick of the National Security Council. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said this marks the first time a civilian representative has participated in meetings with Lebanese officials. The talks are being held in Naqoura near the border, under the framework of the U.S.-led committee charged with implementing the November 2024 ceasefire.

Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli delegation was also instructed to explore opportunities for cooperation beyond security. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the acting director of the National Security Council to send a representative on his behalf to a meeting with government-economic elements in Lebanon,” the statement said, calling the move “an initial attempt to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”

The discussions are taking place as concerns grow about the durability of the truce. Hezbollah continues to reject any dismantling of its weapons, and Lebanese authorities have yet to establish a timeline for fulfilling the disarmament commitments included in the agreement.

Morgan Ortagus, President Donald Trump’s deputy special envoy to the Middle East, is expected to lead the American delegation, which will join officials from Israel, Lebanon, France, and UN peacekeepers. The meeting follows several weeks of Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, including a November 23 airstrike in Beirut that hit an apartment used by the group’s chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabatabai.

Lebanon indicated Wednesday that it may accept a new security role for foreign forces in the country’s south, with Prime Minister Najib Mikati telling Ynet that Beirut is open to allowing American and French soldiers to “verify concerns regarding Hezbollah’s weapons in southern Lebanon,” Ynet reported.

His remarks came shortly after an oversight committee convened in the area, where representatives from several countries are meeting to preserve the fragile ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.

Mikati said Lebanon is prepared to expand the scope of discussions with Israel, noting, “We are ready for negotiations beyond military negotiations with Israel.” He added that full normalization “is related to the peace process” and argued that if both sides adhered to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, progress would eventually follow, though he emphasized that “we are still far from that.” According to him, economic discussions “will be part of any normalization process with Israel, which will come after a peace agreement.”

Israel confirmed earlier in the day that it has sent an official delegation to the latest round of talks in Lebanon, led by Uri Resnick of the National Security Council. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said this marks the first time a civilian representative has participated in meetings with Lebanese officials. The talks are being held in Naqoura, near the border, under the framework of the U.S.-led committee charged with implementing the November 2024 ceasefire.

Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli delegation was also instructed to explore opportunities for cooperation beyond security. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the acting director of the National Security Council to send a representative on his behalf to a meeting with government-economic elements in Lebanon,” the statement said, calling the move “an initial attempt to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”

The discussions are taking place as concerns grow about the durability of the truce. Hezbollah continues to reject any dismantling of its weapons, and Lebanese authorities have yet to establish a timeline for fulfilling the disarmament commitments included in the agreement.

Morgan Ortagus, President Donald Trump’s deputy special envoy to the Middle East, is expected to lead the American delegation, which will join officials from Israel, Lebanon, France, and UN peacekeepers. The meeting follows several weeks of Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, including a November 23 airstrike in Beirut that hit an apartment used by the group’s chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabatabai.

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The president grew “irritated” when Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman refused to commit to normalizing ties with Israel, a source said.

By World Israel News Staff

A friendly meeting between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman turned tense when the American leader pressed the Gulf Kingdom to formally recognize the State of Israel.

Although Jerusalem and Riyadh maintain extensive covert ties, an official acknowledgment of normalization would mark a historic breakthrough in regional diplomacy — an accomplishment Trump has publicly signaled he is eager to secure.

While the two leaders projected unity in public, they clashed behind closed doors over Trump’s pressure for a public announcement regarding the prospect of normalization with Israel.

Trump was “disappointed” and “irritated” by bin Salman’s refusal to commit to recognizing Israel, a source with firsthand knowledge of the conversation told Axios.

“The president really wants them to join the Abraham Accords. He tried very hard to talk him. It was an honest discussion. But MBS is a strong man. He stood his ground,” the source said.

The Saudi prince reportedly told Trump that while he was privately in favor of formal normalization with Israel, now is not the right time because of strong anti-Israel sentiment among Saudi citizens in the aftermath of the Gaza war.

However, an American official told Axios that bin Salman had not flatly rejected the possibility of recognition.

Bin Salman “never said no to normalization. The door is open for doing it later. But the two-state solution is an issue,” the official said.

Trump remains focused on expanding the Abraham Accords to include additional countries, a White House official told Axios.

“Now that Iran’s nuclear program has been totally obliterated and the war in Gaza has ended, it is very important to President Trump that all Middle Eastern countries join the Abraham Accords, which will advance peace in the region,” the official said.

The post Trump, MBS privately clashed over Israel normalization push appeared first on World Israel News.

Lebanese journalist Joseph Abu Fadel declared that all Lebanese should embrace peace and normalization with Israel, allowing them to freely visit Jerusalem, pray, and live without fear, and he urged the public to abandon the failed Palestinian cause.

Lebanese Journalist Joseph Abu Fadel: I Support Peace with Israel, Not Just Normalization; We All Want to go on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Pray There pic.twitter.com/eaWR49HFFQ

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) November 25, 2025

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Although Israel and Kazakhstan already maintain diplomatic relations, the decision to join the accords would formalize their cooperation under the broader US-led initiative.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The Trump administration is preparing to announce that Kazakhstan will formally join the Abraham Accords, marking the first addition to the US-brokered normalization framework in four years, according to American and Israeli officials. The announcement is expected Thursday evening in Washington.

Diplomatic sources say the event will coincide with a gathering of representatives from five Central Asian nations, where US officials are expected to frame Kazakhstan’s inclusion as a sign of renewed regional momentum. One senior official described the move as “just the beginning,” suggesting that additional countries could follow.

The Abraham Accords, first introduced by President Donald Trump in 2020, established full diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Expanding the accords has remained a central goal of Trump’s foreign policy team, which views the agreement as a cornerstone of regional stability and economic cooperation.

Although Israel and Kazakhstan already maintain diplomatic relations, the decision to join the accords would formalize their cooperation under the broader US-led initiative. The step is viewed by both Washington and Jerusalem as a symbolic breakthrough, extending the accords’ reach into Central Asia for the first time.

Hints of the development emerged earlier this week when US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, speaking at a financial conference in Miami, told participants he was returning to Washington “because we’re announcing another country,” though he declined to name it.

On Thursday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss trade and investment ties. A State Department readout said both sides reaffirmed their commitment to “deepening economic cooperation.” Tokayev’s office released a separate statement calling for “constructive dialogue,” widely interpreted as signaling readiness to formalize relations with Israel.

The Trump administration continues to pursue new signatories, including Saudi Arabia, which has tied normalization to progress toward Palestinian statehood—a condition Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected. President Trump recently told Time Magazine he believes Riyadh “will lead the way” before year’s end.

If confirmed, Kazakhstan’s entry would mark a significant diplomatic gain for Trump, extending the Abraham Accords beyond the Middle East and into the broader Muslim world.

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The source noted that Prince Mohammed views recognition as conditional upon Israel taking “an irrevocable, major step toward a Palestinian state.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Despite President Donald Trump’s confidence that he can deliver Saudi-Israeli normalization before year’s end, officials and analysts in Riyadh say such an agreement remains out of reach for now.

Saudi commentators close to the royal court say normalization with Israel remains remote.

“A deal this year is virtually impossible unless a miraculous change occurs in Israel,” said Ali Shihabi, a veteran analyst with ties to the leadership.

He noted that Prince Mohammed views recognition as conditional upon Israel taking “an irrevocable, major step toward a Palestinian state.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his coalition have repeatedly rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood, and public opinion in Israel—still raw from the Hamas assault of October 7, 2023—largely supports that position.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is preparing for his first visit to Washington in seven years, reportedly scheduled for mid-November.

While Trump hopes to secure a breakthrough on normalization during the trip, Saudi officials indicate that the kingdom’s immediate goals lie elsewhere chiefly, finalizing a mutual defense pact with the United States and advancing a civilian nuclear program.

According to American officials familiar with the talks, the defense agreement would resemble the security pact Washington recently signed with Qatar, committing the US to treat any armed attack on Saudi Arabia as a threat to its own security.

Riyadh is also seeking approval to purchase F-35 stealth fighters and access to US nuclear technology for civilian purposes—two long-term strategic objectives for the crown prince.

Riyadh continues to see normalization as its last major source of leverage on the Palestinian issue. “The kingdom wants to use that card to resolve the problem once and for all, for the sake of lasting regional stability,” Shihabi said.

Trump, who brokered the Gaza ceasefire earlier this month, remains determined to press the matter. “They couldn’t have done it during the war,” he told Fox Business, predicting that with calm restored, “it will happen.”

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He argued that Saudi talk of Palestinian statehood amounted to denying the Jewish connection to Judea and Samaria.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reignited controversy Monday by criticizing Saudi Arabia and questioning its attitude toward Jewish history, even after walking back remarks that sparked outrage last week.

Speaking at a Religious Zionist Party meeting in the Knesset, Smotrich accused Riyadh of “denying our tradition and our heritage,” and said Israelis should not feel obligated to defend the kingdom.

His comments followed an apology he issued days earlier for saying that Saudi leaders should “keep riding camels in the desert” if normalization with Israel depended on establishing a Palestinian state.

Smotrich acknowledged that the phrasing had been “unsuccessful” and expressed regret for the offense caused, but he stood by his broader message. “We have lived 77 years without Saudi Arabia and can live 77 more,” he said in a video message posted online.

At Monday’s press conference, Smotrich criticized Israelis who he said were more offended on behalf of the Saudis than by what he viewed as Riyadh’s rejection of Jewish history.

“That, to me, is far more insulting than any remark by a finance minister,” he told reporters.

He argued that Saudi talk of Palestinian statehood amounted to denying the Jewish connection to Judea and Samaria.

“This is about our soldiers, our children, our brothers,” he said. “When they discuss a Palestinian state, they are erasing the Bible and the roots of our people.”

The finance minister insisted that Israel seeks peace but will not compromise its security or sovereignty to achieve it. “No one is doing us a favor by joining the Abraham Accords,” he said. “We won’t accept conditions that threaten our territorial integrity.”

Smotrich also addressed the ongoing conflict in Gaza, saying Israel would not allow reconstruction efforts while Hamas remains in control. “The real test of this deal is in its implementation,” he said. “From our perspective, the war is not yet over, and Gaza’s rehabilitation will not begin until Hamas is dismantled.”

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Such a move could also threaten the Abraham Accords, Israel’s normalization agreements with several Arab states.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Saudi Arabia has warned Israel that annexing any part of Judea and Samaria would carry “major implications in all fields,” Israeli media reported Sunday.

The warning coincided with a wave of new recognitions of a Palestinian state, with Portugal, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia all declaring support within the same day.

Riyadh did not specify what measures it might take, but Israeli officials believe normalization talks could collapse and Saudi airspace, first opened in 2022, could once again be closed to Israeli flights.

Such a move could also threaten the Abraham Accords, Israel’s normalization agreements with several Arab states.

Sources close to US President Donald Trump signaled that Washington does not favor annexation. “It’s the last thing they need,” one source said, citing already heightened tensions following Israel’s September 9 strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar.

Saudi officials are expected to meet Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, alongside leaders from the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey, to discuss the war in Gaza and postwar scenarios.

Trump will also hold a separate session with Gulf leaders focused on the Qatar strike.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened ministers to discuss how Israel should respond to the surge of international recognition.

Options included reclassifying parts of Judea and Samaria to expand Israeli authority and closing consulates of states that back a Palestinian state, particularly France.

Netanyahu, together with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, stressed the need for close coordination with Washington. “No decision will be made until after my meeting with President Trump next week,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

European diplomats urged restraint, warning that annexation would be seen as “collective punishment” and could jeopardize existing regional agreements. “We will not take annexation lying down,” one senior European official told Israel.

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On Friday, President Aoun called on the Israeli military to withdraw from five positions along the Israel-Lebanon frontier, as it impedes Hezbollah disarmament efforts.

By Charles Bybelezer, JNS

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ruled out the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel, though he expressed a desire to end the longstanding conflict with the Jewish state.

“Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment. As for the issue of normalization, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy,” Aoun said, according to Agence France-Presse.

The comments come after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said last week that Jerusalem is committed to expanding the Abraham Accords and is “interested in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization.”

Syria’s new governing authority has claimed a willingness to work with the United States to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which created a U.N.-monitored buffer zone separating the two countries.

Thomas J. Barrack Jr., U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, told The New York Times last week that Jerusalem and Damascus were engaged in “meaningful” talks aimed at restoring calm to their shared border.

Aoun called on the Israeli military to withdraw from five positions along the Israel-Lebanon frontier.

The outposts are located at strategic points, including a hill near Labbouneh, opposite the Israeli town of Shlomi; the Jabal Blat peak, across from Moshav Zar’it; a hill opposite Moshav Avivim and Kibbutz Malkia; another facing Moshav Margaliot; and one near the town of Metula.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in March that IDF troops would remain at the sites in Southern Lebanon “indefinitely,” despite the launch of talks with Beirut over 13 disputed points along the border.

Aoun claimed on Friday that the Israel Defense Forces’ presence in Lebanon “obstruct[s] the complete deployment of the [Lebanese] army up to the internationally recognized borders.”

Ceasefire agreement and U.N. Resolution 1701

On Nov. 26, 2024, Jerusalem and Beirut signed a ceasefire deal aimed at ending more than a year of cross-border clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed terrorist group began attacking the Jewish state in support of Hamas a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

As part of the agreement, both sides acknowledged the significance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War but has never been fully enforced.

The resolution calls for the complete demilitarization of Hezbollah south of the Litani River and prohibits the presence of any armed groups in Lebanon other than the Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Since the truce, Israel has conducted frequent operations to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its terrorist infrastructure and so violating the terms of the truce.

U.S. roadmap for disarmament

Barrack said on Monday that Hezbollah must see “a future for them” as part of a broader disarmament roadmap delivered to the Lebanese government on behalf of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Hezbollah is a political party. It also has a militant aspect to it,” Barrack told reporters after meeting with Aoun in Beirut, according to AFP.

“Hezbollah needs to see that there’s a future for them, that the road is not harnessed solely against them, and that there’s an intersection of peace and prosperity for them also.”

Hezbollah is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department.

Barrack described the Lebanese government’s response to the plan as “thoughtful” and “spectacular,” adding, “We’re creating a go-forward plan. To create that, we need dialogue.”

While the official response was not made public, Aoun reiterated on Friday that his government is determined to “hold the monopoly over weapons in the country.”

The move, he said, would be carried out in accordance with “the interest of the state and its security stability to preserve civil peace on one hand, and national unity on the other.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told JNS on Monday that while he hadn’t heard Barrack’s specific comments, “Hezbollah has to disarm. That is the position of President Trump’s administration and, in my estimation, his people.

“If Hezbollah wants to be a civil body without arms or anything and to be a part of the State of Lebanon, I don’t interfere with Lebanon and how it wants to run itself. There’s a democracy there. [But] Hezbollah won’t have weapons. Period. No chance,” Smotrich said.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Sunday rejected the possibility of disarmament, citing “Israeli threats” and warning of a “confrontation” in response.

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Martini mentioned that Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah paved the way for Syria’s successful coup.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A Syrian and Saudi political activist visited the Knesset on Thursday for what was described as a “once-in-a-century” opportunity to discuss the possibility of normalizing ties with Israel.

Syrian businessman and political activist Shadi Martini, along with Saudi journalist Abdulaziz al-Khamis, spoke at the first meeting of the Knesset lobby aimed at approaching normalization with Arab countries, building on the 2020 Abraham Accords.

The Lobby for Advancing a Regional Security Arrangement, founded by opposition MKs Ram Ben Barak, Gilad Kariv, and Alon Schuster, convened the meeting to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington.

Martini, who escaped Syria when the brutal civil war began in 2012, described his “interesting” meeting with Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaaa, which included representatives of various faiths.

“I was with two other colleagues, one of whom is a priest and one of whom is a rabbi… We entered the presidential palace in Damascus. I really appreciated that meeting. It went on for two hours, and the topic of Israel was dominant,” he said.

Regarding the current meeting, Martini said, “We only have these opportunities one time every 100 years; it’s a very unique opportunity, but the window will not always stay open.”

He mentioned that Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah paved the way for Syria’s successful coup.

“For Syrians, we were very happy with what Israel did, we appreciated it,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that Syrian officials and the public are troubled by Israel’s military operations in the country that don’t seem to have an endgame.

“Israel needs to explain what the end game here is,” he said, adding that Israeli operations were interfering with Syrian farmers’ access to their land. “We need to understand.”

Al-Khamis emphasized that a resolution to the situation in Gaza was essential to any normalization agreement.

“No state can expect to be impressed when our people next door are encaged and disenfranchised,” he said. “Normalization from Saudi Arabia’s perspective is not merely a dual agreement; it’s a regional realignment, and such realignment must include a credible and tangible path to Palestinian sovereignty.”

Netanyahu has repeated the refusal to establish a Palestinian State.

At a White House meeting with President Donald Trump last week, Netanyahu said, “We will work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don’t want to destroy us and we will work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands.”

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Netanyahu and Al-Sharaa are expected to discuss security agreements between the two countries, as well as steps leading towards full diplomatic recognition and normalization of ties.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed to a historic meeting at the White House in September, which could pave the way towards normalization between the two countries, i24 reports.

The meeting between the leaders of Israel and Syria, two countries that have had an adversarial relationship for decades, will occur before the annual UN General Assembly meeting.

Although details remain secret, Netanyahu and Al-Sharaa are expected to discuss the first stage of security agreements between the two countries, as well as steps leading towards full diplomatic recognition and normalization of ties.

Netanyahu and al-Sharaa are expected to sign a security agreement under the patronage of US President Donald Trump.

The meeting marks the culmination of a back-channel between the two countries, and the summit is expected to signal a significant shift in the relationship between the two nations.

The United Arab Emirates, which signed a normalization agreement with Israel in 2020, and Saudi Arabia are involved in the communication between Israel and Syria.

Gulf sources have said that a significant obstacle to an agreement is the Golan Heights, which Israel has claimed since the conclusion of the 1967 war, but Syria insists it is its territory.

Some Israeli officials are ambivalent about the news of potential normalization with Syria and question whether al-Sharaa’s new government has complete control over terror groups in the south that might threaten Israel.

A senior envoy from President Donald Trump’s administration recently visited Damascus to help finalize a pending agreement between Israel and Syria, according to a report by Israel Hayom.

The deal, backed by US guarantees, is expected to be completed within days, marking a significant diplomatic development in the region.

As part of the broader effort to facilitate the agreement, the Trump administration also announced it would lift sanctions on the Al-Tahrir organization. The group had previously been designated a terrorist entity.

Al-Tahrir was formerly led by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who had preceded him in power, following the removal of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

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