MBS reportedly to tell Trump, ‘Yes to normalization with Israel, but not now’

By Lazar Berman

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18 November 2025, 8:58 pm

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Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman looks on during a meeting with US President Donald Trump (not pictured) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will tell US President Donald Trump in their private meeting today, “Yes to normalization with Israel, but not now,” Channel 12 reports, citing an official with knowledge of the details.

MBS will say that normalization is a strategic goal for Saudi Arabia, but the conditions are not right, the network reports. MBS wants to see that the Gaza ceasefire instituted last month doesn’t fall apart, and is demanding a commitment to a pathway to a Palestinian state from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejects Palestinian statehood.

Trump wants to see that the Saudis have a roadmap to get to normalization and that they start to make some measure of progress in that direction, Channel 12 says.