Smotrich says he supports normalization with Saudi Arabia as long as it doesn’t cost Israel its security

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he supports expanding the Abraham Accords, including with Saudi Arabia, while cautioning that such an agreement must be “based on truth and not on lies… and not come at the expense of the security of the residents of the State of Israel, including the achievement of the war goals of destroying Hamas’s military and governmental power, removing the threat, and returning all the kidnapped.”

Israel established relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office under the Abraham Accords.

Normalization with Saudi Arabia, which did not join the 2020 accords and has never recognized Israel, has been all but shelved due to the war in Gaza as well as Riyadh’s demands that Israel establish a diplomatic horizon for a future Palestinian state.

The far-right minister has in the past spoken against normalization with Saudi Arabia if it requires the establishment of a Palestinian statement.

Addressing reporters in the Knesset, he also welcomes what he calls a “refreshing change in the new administration’s attitude toward the State of Israel” after Trump succeeded former US president Joe Biden last month.

Speaking a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Trump at the White House, Smotrich makes no mention of his previous threats to leave the coalition, and thus deprive it of its Knesset majority, if it does not resume fighting Hamas at the end of the current 42-day first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal.

Smotrich says that he is “certain that President Trump will continue to work to strengthen the security and status of the State of Israel as he has done to date.”

“Unfortunately, the previous administration chose to publicly boycott a large part of the Israeli people and their elected officials, and the Trump administration, on the other hand, presents a different approach that expresses mutual respect and appreciation for Israeli democracy,” Smotrich states.

The Biden administration maintained an effective boycott of Smotrich and former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who represent the far-right flank of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

Smotrich praises Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who helped close the ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, as showing “an open mind and creative thinking about solutions, along with a deep commitment and concern for the State of Israel and its security.”