Palestinians said softening demands in Israel-Saudi normalization deal

The demands that Saudi Arabia is making on behalf of the Palestinians as part of a normalization deal with Israel are “softer” than previous Palestinian demands, but will still present a major stumbling block for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government, Channel 12 reports.

The unsourced report notes that no formal package has been presented yet to the Israeli side, but still lays out several key demands.

For the first time, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is willing to accept an interim agreement with Israel and not a full statehood, the report says.

In return, the Palestinians are requesting a halt to settlement construction in the West Bank and a transfer of an unspecified amount of Area C, currently under full Israeli control, to Area A, under Palestinian control.

They are also asking for a declaration recognizing the rights of the Palestinians to establish a capital in East Jerusalem in the future.

In addition, they want the US to allow the Palestinian Liberation Organization to reopen its embassy in Washington DC, and have the US reopen its consulate to the Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

They also want Israel to stop withholding Palestinian tax revenue to compensate for payments to security prisoners and the families of those who carried out terror attacks, the report says.

The report says that the Biden administration has told the PA that it will not support full Palestinian membership at the UN.

Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners have ruled out any concessions to the Palestinians as part of the deal, but the prime minister has vowed that political issues won’t stop the agreement going forward.