Riyadh refuses normalisation under Netanyahu: Report

Palestinian officials have told Haaretz that senior figures in Saudi Arabia have quietly told the Palestinian leadership in recent days that Riyadh will not push ahead with any normalisation process with Israel as long as Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government remains in charge.

Their comments came after US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was considering approving a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 stealth fighters. According to the Palestinian officials, such a weapons agreement is nowhere near enough for Riyadh to formalise ties with Israel, especially at a moment when Israel continues its assault on Gaza and openly rejects Palestinian statehood.

Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, weighed in on Sunday, insisting that advanced fighter jets had never featured in earlier discussions on a potential Saudi-Israeli agreement. “Having taken part in dozens of discussions on a normalisation arrangement with Saudi Arabia, the F-35 deal was never part of any such agreement, because it was clear that Israel's security requires preserving its qualitative military edge,” he said.

Lapid urged lawmakers to block the move. “Israel cannot, due to the weakness of the current government, give up core security interests and allow the F-35 deal to go through.”