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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n But Saudi Arabia has been pursuing a dramatic realignment in the Middle East in recent months, including heightening its rivalry with the United Arab Emirates, one of Israel\u2019s closest allies in the region.<\/p>\n \t In December, MBS signed a series of agreements with Qatari Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani, and discussed deepening defense cooperation. Saudi Arabia is also reportedly in talks with Turkey \u2014 one of Israel\u2019s leading regional rivals \u2014 to join a mutual defense pact that includes Pakistan.<\/p>\n Both Turkey and Qatar are mediators of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, and their leaders have forged close partnerships with Trump since his return to office. In the years before the war, Qatar provided hundreds of millions in dollars to stabilize Hamas-ruled Gaza that\u00a0top Israeli officials had sought and expressed their appreciation for, a policy that has faced intensive scrutiny in Israel following the October 7 atrocities.<\/p>\n As MBS has moved away from the UAE and toward Turkey and Qatar, Saudi media has also taken a hostile turn against Israel and Jews of late.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a clear Saudi shift of late in rhetoric, in heavily criticizing Israel, and in policy, especially in countering UAE,\u201d said Michael Makovsky, President and CEO of the \u00a0Jewish Institute for National Security of America.<\/p>\n Such efforts \u201creject the legitimacy of the State of Israel, and nurture all kinds of forces that attack the State of Israel,\u201d said Netanyahu at the Tuesday press conference.<\/p>\n He went on to say that he\u2019d be \u201chappy to have a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia,\u201d provided \u201cthey want normalization and peace with a secure and strong Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n \t In December, Saudi Arabia\u2019s former intelligence chief said<\/a> that Riyadh is currently not even entertaining the idea of normalizing relations with Israel and will only do so if Jerusalem begins acting like a \u201cnormal country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSaudi Arabia is not considering a normalization deal with Israel. Should Israel become a normal country with normal acceptance of international law, then Saudi Arabia will consider normalization,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n In November, Trump was reportedly<\/a> left \u201cdisappointed and angry\u201d after a \u201ctense\u201d exchange with MBS over normalization with Israel during their White House meeting.<\/p>\n Citing two senior American officials and an additional source familiar with the conversation, Channel 12 news said Trump was the one to raise the issue, urging the crown prince to move forward immediately with normalization. In response, Bin Salman pushed back, saying that while he isn\u2019t against normalization in principle, widespread anti-Israel sentiment in Saudi Arabia following the war in Gaza doesn\u2019t allow for the move at this time.<\/p>\n The first Trump administration and its successor, the Biden administration, tried to persuade Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords. But those hopes were dashed first by opposition from the crown prince\u2019s father, King Salman, during Trump\u2019s first term and then by MBS\u00a0 himself following the October 7 Hamas attack.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump (right) meets with Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, November 18, 2025. (Evan Vucci\/AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20170330__N45YW__v1__HighRes__SaudiGccDiplomacy-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tSaudi Arabia\u2019s former intelligence minister Prince Turki bin Faisal al-Saud attends the meeting of foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on March 30, 2017. (FAYEZ NURELDINE \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
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