Peace with Saudi Arabia is linked to the goal of stopping Iranian aggression and will open economic possibilities for Israel and the region, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday in Jerusalem.
“The Arab world recognizes the primacy of the Iranian threat,” which has helped move it closer to Israel, he told the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations.
Netanyahu touted the idea that Israel would normalize ties with Saudi Arabia.
Such a move would “launch a historic change in Israel’s position in the Middle East,” he said.
“This is a goal that we are working on in parallel with the goal of stopping Iran,” he added. “The two are intertwined. It would be a quantum leap.”
What would the economic possibilities be from Israeli-Saudi peace?
One of the economic possibilities would be to connect the Arabian Peninsula with the Port of Haifa through a rail link across Jordan, Netanyahu said. The plan would be based on the old Ottoman rail line, parts of which had been established between Haifa and Beit She’an, he said.
Similarly, there could be an oil pipeline that goes from the Arabian Peninsula to our ports in the Mediterranean, thereby saving seven days of sea travel, Netanyahu said.
“Israel is no longer an isolated country at the east end of the Mediterranean surrounded by hostile states, but a country at peace in an effective geopolitical alliance with key Arab countries... If we do this, it has great prospects for normalizing and eventually ending our dispute with the Palestinians,” he said.
“Israel is no longer an isolated country at the east of the Mediterranean surrounded by hostile states, but a country at peace in an effective geopolitical alliance with key Arab countries.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
“People are realizing that there is another path that gives great hope to stability and global peace in one of the most complex regions in the world,” Netanyahu said.