Netanyahu, MBS spoke before and after Arab League meeting
No progress on normalization • J’lem hopeful about flights for Mecca pilgrims
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) spoke on the phone twice in recent weeks, with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani facilitating the calls, a foreign diplomatic source said Monday.
Netanyahu and MBS spoke before and after last week’s Arab League meeting to discuss the possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
No progress was made in the conversations, and MBS rejected a request by Netanyahu to meet, the source said.
The leaders did not discuss the possibility of direct flights from Israel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, this year, but according to an Israeli diplomatic source, “There is optimism” in Jerusalem about the continuing efforts.
The Saudis presented a list of demands for Israeli concessions vis-à-vis the Palestinians, the N12 news site reported. Those demands include allowing the Palestinian
security apparatus to be strengthened at the expense of the IDF in Judea and Samaria, the report said. MBS also requested Palestinian security control over al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, while the Western Wall would remain under full Israeli control.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Zayani spoke on the phone on Sunday night, the Foreign Ministry said.
Last week, Cohen told The Jerusalem Post normalization with Saudi Arabia was “not a matter of if, but of when. We and Saudi Arabia have the same interests.”
He said White House Coordinator for the Middle
East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) about peace with Israel during their visit to Jeddah this month.
Normalization with Saudi Arabia could come within the next six months to a year, though senior Saudi officials have always said publicly that headway must be made between Israel and the Palestinians for Riyadh to take that step, Cohen told N12 Saturday night.
that he “lost it” when he stabbed his then-wife, Isakov, 20 times with a kitchen knife and beat her with a rolling pin at their Mitzpe Ramon home. Moshe also abused the couple’s son, who was by Isakov’s side when the attack occurred.
The attempted murderer claimed that he was put into a state of mental instability by Isakov’s teasing and “verbal violence.”
Isakov testified against Moshe on Monday and said she and her son still suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the ordeal.
Moshe was convicted in 2021 for attempted murder and child abuse. Last year, the Beersheba District Court sentenced Moshe to 23 years in prison. The prosecution had requested 24-27 years to set a precedent for domestic abuse cases.
Moshe was also ordered to pay Isakov NIS 258,000 in compensation.