Israel's Beelzebub Smotrich Sets Condition on Normalization with Saudi Arabia

Israel will reject any normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia if it requires the creation of a Palestinian state, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said yesterday.

Speaking to Bloomberg, the extreme far-right minister said: “If that’s a dealbreaker, the deal will sink.”

Last year, Tel Aviv and Riyadh had been involved in talks to normalize relations, in a process backed by Washington and hailed as a potential massive shift in the region.

Following numerous delays and disagreements, however, the talks finally fell through after Israel launched a war against the besieged Strip, which has recently been described as a ‘genocide’ by Amnesty International.

Smotrich told Bloomberg that he believes the incoming Trump administration “understands the obligation to ensure the future existence of Israel” by rejecting the two-state solution.

According to the Israeli newspaper, the Times of Israel, this stance contrasts with the US Biden administration, which supports the Palestinian Authority (PA) to eventually govern Gaza after the war.

Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oppose strengthening the PA, however, equating it to Hamas. Instead, Netanyahu has suggested that Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE could help administer Gaza post-war. However, regional nations have consistently refused to participate in Gaza’s reconstruction or governance without the PA’s involvement.

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On the West Bank, Smotrich confirmed to Bloomberg that approximately 160,000 Palestinians barred from jobs in Israel since October 2023 will not be allowed to return.

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron has warned about the economic fallout from this decision, particularly in Israel’s construction sector, but Smotrich defended the move as a necessary short-term sacrifice for long-term gains, claiming it would lead to better building technologies and productivity.

Despite recent downgrades to Israel’s credit rating by major agencies, Smotrich insisted the economy remains strong. He pointed to a recent eight percent rise in the shekel against the dollar and dismissed the concerns of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and credit rating agencies as a ‘misunderstanding’ of Israel’s economic strength.

“The economy’s working much better than might have been expected,” he argued.

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Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,758 Palestinians have been killed, and 106,134 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.