Trump: at least five other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, want to normalize relations with Israel

Al-Quds Al-Arabi: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that at least five other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, want to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, after Sudan became the last country in the region to normalize its relations with the Hebrew state.

“There are at least five Arab countries that want to join,” Trump told reporters at the White House, expecting Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with the Hebrew state.

Many Arab oil countries have been quietly communicating with Israeli authorities for years, but the normalization of relations offers many opportunities, especially economic ones, for countries trying to shake off the consequences of the emerging Corona virus crisis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points out that other Arab countries want to establish relations with Israel, considering that these countries now prioritize trade opportunities.

Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Saudi Arabia to “normalize its relations” with Israel, like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia would mark a real turning point in the Middle East. For months, Donald Trump’s administration lobbied for this, but the Kingdom made it clear that it would not follow the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which violated the “Arab consensus” that stipulates normalization with the United Arab Emirates. Hebrew State on the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Wednesday, for the first time since signing the agreements with Abu Dhabi and Manama, Israel agreed to build thousands of new settlement units in separate parts of the occupied West Bank, and after eight months of freezing settlement activity, in a measure condemned by the European powers.

(Agencies)