In the latest sign that a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not going to be signed any time in the foreseeable future, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he is closely following Riyadh’s recent shift toward Turkey and Qatar.

“We expect from anybody who wants normalization or peace with us that they not participate in efforts steered by forces or ideologies that want the opposite of peace,” Netanyahu said at a press conference in response to a question by The Times of Israel.

Normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia seemed to be a question of when, not if, before the October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel by Hamas and the subsequent war. Two Israeli ministers made unprecedented visits to the desert kingdom in the weeks before the attack, and the Biden White House was pushing hard for a deal.

Riyadh adopted a harder line on normalization during the war, insisting that Israel commit to Palestinian statehood, which Netanyahu opposes, and which the Israeli public is even less likely to accept in the wake of the Hamas attack.

US President Donald Trump repeatedly expressed hope that Riyadh would join the Abraham Accords, which normalized ties between Israel and several Arab nations in 2020, during the president’s first term. After the October 2025 ceasefire in Gaza, Trump reportedly told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that he expects him to move toward normalization with Israel now that the fighting was........

© The Times of Israel