Many Saudis want normalization with ‘Israel’, says former US secretary of state

Washington (QNN)- Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said “many” people in Saudi Arabia want normalized relations with ‘Israel’, hoping the kingdom will join other Arab countries in normalizing the relations.

Pompeo, who served as Trump’s CIA director and top diplomat, made the comments in a recorded video address to the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement, which gave him its inaugural Global Leadership Awardon Monday.

Under the so-called Abraham accords brokered by Trump last year, four majority Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, agreed to establish ties with the occupation state., a move which was condemned by the Palestinians, saying such aggreements encouraged Israel’s denial of their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.

“Predicting the future has proven a struggle for me,” Pompeo said in remarks shared with AFP, adding that he thinks “many more” countries will seek ties with ‘Israel’.

“I hope that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can find its way to join the Abraham Accords. I know that many inside that country want that to take place,” he stated.

Israeli media said that Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November in the Red Sea city of Neom.

The meeting, denied by Riyadh, fueled speculation that a normalization deal might be close.

Pompeo further claimed the Abraham Accords were made possible by the US killing of powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike, arguing it built trust between Washington and its Arab allies.

“When leaders in the Arab world saw that the United States was prepared to do this, to push back against Iran, to push back against the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) leadership in the person of Qassem Soleimani, they knew they had a friend,” Pompeo said.

“They knew that they could… build out a set of accords with the State of Israel: these are not disconnected issues, they are deeply connected, one could not happen without the other.”