Trump predicts normalization of ties btw Israel and Saudi Arabia by year end
The US President Donald Trump has said that Israel and Saudi Arabia would normalize ties by the end of the year.
He disclosed this in an October 15 Time Magazine interview published on Thursday October 23, in response to a question about a prospective diplomatic harmony between both countries.
“I think we’re very close. I think Saudi Arabia is going to lead the way.
“They had a Gaza problem and they had an Iran problem. Now they don’t have those two problems,” Trump said in the interview.
Asked whether Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords by the end of the year, he answered “Yes, I do. I do.”
The US President added that he would visit the Gaza Strip at some point, while shedding doubts on the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas as the leader of the Palestinians.
“They don’t have a leader right now, at least a visible leader, and they don’t really want to, because every one of those leaders has been shot and killed. It’s not a hot job,” Trump said, adding that he had always found Abbas “reasonable, but he’s probably not.”
On the issue of imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti who was convicted for terrorism by the Israeli Government, Trump noted that the matter was being currently discussed, and that his fate as to whether he would be released or not by the Israeli authority would be decided soon.
“I am literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called. That was the question. That was my question of the day. So I’ll be making a decision,” Trump said.
