Netanyahu says peace with Saudi Arabia could speed end to Arab-Israeli conflict

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia would be "a great leap" on the way to ending the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Netanyahu made the comment during his meeting with US Senator Lindsey Graham, who arrived in Israel from Saudi Arabia.

"This agreement could have monumental consequences, historic consequences both for Israel, for Saudi Arabia, for the region, and for the world," Netanyahu said as quoted by a statement issued by his office.

Graham, who earlier met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, said efforts are underway to upgrade US-Saudi ties and in turn normalize Israeli-Saudi relations.

"I told Saudi Arabia I'd like to upgrade our relationship. We have to do it in a way that would be reassuring to our friends in Israel," Graham told Netanyahu.

There was no comment from the Saudi authorities on Netanyahu's remarks.

Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and opposes normalization with Tel Aviv until it ends the decades-long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Six Arab countries have diplomatic ties with Israel starting with Egypt in 1979, Jordan in 1994, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco in 2020.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar