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Netanyahu says peace with Saudi Arabia is key to ending Arab-Israeli conflict

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia would serve as a “giant leap” towards ending the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“We want normalization and peace with Saudi Arabia. We view that as perhaps a giant leap towards ending the Arab-Israeli conflict,” Netanyahu said during a meeting in Jerusalem with US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

He added: “This agreement could have monumental consequences, historic consequences both for Israel, for Saudi Arabia, for the region and for the world.”

Israel, since the signing of the US-sponsored Abraham Accords normalizing ties with UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, has continued to seek expanding the initiative to additional countries. Israeli top brass has repeatedly stressed that establishing ties with Saudi Arabia would be the ultimate achievement and would be pivotal to establishing peace in the region.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that any kind of peace accord or deal to normalize ties with Israel would be preconditioned on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Israeli officials have touted Iran and its threat to the region – including its nuclear program, ballistic missiles arsenal, and its interference through arming and financing militias in countries such as Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria – as a shared enemy with Arab countries.

Tel Aviv saw the China brokered deal normalizing ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran last month as a setback.

Israel's foreign ministry said on Monday it had asked China to exert influence on Iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“I spoke with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, about the danger we see in the Iranian nuclear program, a danger that is shared by many countries in the region, including countries that have diplomatic relations with Iran,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in a statement.

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