Hanegbi says road to Saudi normalization ‘is long’ but still possible

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi says that the road to reaching a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia is long but still possible.

“We were positively surprised a few months ago when the White House… said it was exerting efforts to reach a deal with the Saudis,” Hanegbi tells Kan’s public radio.

Talks at the moment “are currently not at that area of dialogue” where a full deal is being discussed, he adds.

“I can identify with what the US president said in an interview a few days ago, where he said that the road is still long but that he thinks that there will be a possibility of progress on the issue,” Hanegbi adds, saying the current focus is on deals between the US and Saudi Arabia.

Hanegbi rejects recent claims in certain Hebrew media outlets about likely concessions, saying that “Israel will not give in to anything that will erode its security.”

Asked about approval of a Saudi demand to develop a nuclear energy plant, Hanegbi says such a plan is not a concern to Israel, since it “is not something that endangers them nor their neighbors.”