Crown prince Mohamad bin Salman > US State Department, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Israel’s former minister for regional cooperation has suggested that Saudi Arabia will normalise diplomatic ties with Israel “in the next few months”.
Speaking in London, Ofir Akunis reportedly said that the world should also expect other countries in addition to the Saudis to sign peace treaties with Israel soon.
Akunis, visiting the UK to mark two years since the signing of the Abraham Accords, said: “I hope and I suppose that in the next few months other countries and other states will announce normalisation with Israel and take positive steps, before new peace treaties”.
He added: “I can say I think [if] Saudi Arabia or any other country in our region will want to normalise connections with Israel they will find our open hearts and our open doors”.
Reflecting on the prospect of new elections in Israel later this year, the former Likud politician said that continued normalisation would be “a priority” for Israel’s next government.
Following peace deals with Egypt (1978) and Jordan (1994), the Abraham Accords normalised diplomatic ties between Israel and four Arab countries – the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – in 2020.
Several other Muslim countries, including Oman and Indonesia, have been subject to speculation around the next states which might normalise ties with the Jewish state.